Blog | ERISA and Disability Rights and Benefits | Alabama | The Martin Law Firm, LLC

Usually, we shy away from doing things to the point of exhaustion. However, in some areas of the law, you have to exhaust all procedural processes, or the merits of your case will not matter. Employment law, including ERISA, is a prime example.  Ms. Moore was a long-time employee of Verizon, goi...

“If You Fail to Plan, You Are Planning to Fail” — Benjamin Franklin.  It may also be true with ERISA cases, especially subrogation and reimbursement claims, that “If you don't have the plan, you have planned to fail.” Sure, you might get lucky, but then you might also win the lottery. Lori Freit...

Alabama Clarke-Figures Equal Pay Act at Ala. Code § 25-1-30 requires that an employer (inclusive of public employers) cannot pay persons performing the same work different rates of pay when they have the same skill, effort, education, experience, responsibility, and performance conditions, Men an...

More than a few times, I have explained the unfairness of discretionary clauses. On the other hand, the benefits of a de novo review are well entrenched in the 11th Circuit law. A recent case, Harris v. The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company, No. 21-13186 (11th Cir. July 29, 2022), affirms a...

If you are sick or have been injured is there a timeline for your improvement? Can you be terminated from your employment for not improving based on the companies expectations? Unum Insurance Company thinks so. Ms. Proctor was a telephone call center supervisor when the vehicle she was driving wa...

I am David Martin with the Martin Law group. We help people with disability policy claims and ERISA claims. This and other videos are posted to help you understand your policy. I post a new term every Thursday. Subscribe to get the Edge in understanding your policy.  Today let's talk about the c...

I am David Martin with the Martin Law Group. We help people with disability policy claims and ERISA claims. This and other videos are posted to help you understand your policy. I post a new policy term every Thursday. Subscribe to get the Edge in understanding your policy. Other Income is a commo...

I am David Martin with the Martin Law group. We help people with disability policies and ERISA claims. I post a new term every Thursday. Subscribe to get the Edge in understanding your policy.  Today let's talk about what it means when the policy says it can require “examination by a doctor of ou...

Today we are going to be discussing What are exclusions? Exclusions are circumstances, situations or certain disabilities which will not result in a payment of benefits. Many common exclusions in disability policies are disabilities that are related to war, armed aggression, service in the Armed ...

I am David Martin with the Martin Law group. We help people with disability policies and ERISA claims. I post a new term every Thursday. Subscribe to get the Edge in understanding your policy. Today we are going to be discussing What are my Pre-disability Earnings or Covered Earnings? These term...

My co-worker cussed me out and my boss did nothing about it. Is that a hostile work environment? It depends on many factors such as what was said, how often it was said, and whether your employer had notice or constructive notice of the conduct. Busby v. City of Orlando, 931 F.2d 764, 785 (11th C...

Mr. Duggan filed a lawsuit when he felt his employer was failing to pay overtime wages, and then for retaliated against him when he complained about it. He worked for Dura-Line, a company that makes pathways or conduits for connections for the telecom industry and the natural gas industry. Mr. Du...

Our firm's attorney David Martin has an article published in the Alabama Association for Justice titled Stand up for Justice, which explores the gross unfairness in ERISA, which deprives thousands of people of lawfully receiving their long-term disability benefits. There is a bill seeking to chan...

Many clients and attorneys alike often think that if they paid for a policy themselves, then it should be a policy governed by state law and not federal law. In other words, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act should not govern the claim. That is not necessarily true, and a recent case pr...

In August 2021, New York City ordered all employees in its public school system to be vaccinated against Covid 19. Then a short while later the city ordered all of its municipal workers to be vaccinated. The vaccines were authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and recommended by the ...

By David P. Martin Why are there so many job openings? More particularly, why did my take-out pizza box have an advertisement for a signing bonus to work at a pizza place? I see in cities all across Alabama, quite a few employers with “hiring now” signs visibly displayed outside businesses. In r...

I am David Martin with the Martin Law group. We help people with disability policies and ERISA claims. I post a new disability policy term every Thursday. Subscribe and get the Edge in understanding your policy. Today let's discuss “What is objective medical evidence?” This term means independent...

I am David Martin with the Martin Law group. We help people with disability policies and ERISA claims. I post a new term every Thursday. Subscribe to get the Edge in understanding your policy. Today we are going to be discussing What is a pre-existing condition? A pre-existing condition is a medi...

I am David Martin with the Martin Law group. We help people with disability policies and ERISA claims. I post a new disability policy term every Thursday. Subscribe to get the Edge in understanding your policy. Today we are going to be discussing “What is a mental illness limitation?” A mental il...

Conduct discrimination toward race, sex, religion, or ethnicity may be a problem. Making fun of you for coloring your hair may not be.  The factors courts look at include “… ‘the frequency of the discriminatory conduct; its severity; whether it is physically threatening or humiliating, or a mere ...

Often the first two questions we hear from our clients are: Why did they deny my claim? What does this letter mean? Our clients have usually received a letter full of confusing ERISA jargon and terms from an insurance company or a pension plan refusing to pay their claim. So, we've decided ...

The lawyers in our firm are focused on helping people with disability policies and ERISA claims. We want to give you the edge in understanding your policy. Today, we discuss Part II of what the term “discretionary authority” means in your disability policy. In Part I, we pointed out the unfairnes...

Without question, COVID has had a significant impact on everyone's life. For some, the effects have been more pronounced than others. And while we have made substantial strides forward in dealing with its threats, the true long-term impacts are still unknown. But one thing is already clear – COVI...

The lawyers in our firm are focused on helping people with disability policies and ERISA claims. We want to give you the edge in understanding your policy. Today, we want to help you understand what the term “disability earnings” means in your disability policy. Disability earnings are those earn...

One tool that can be effective in correcting unfairness with underpaid medical benefit claims is the class-action. An example can be seen in the recent class action filed in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut, Stewart et al v. Cigna Corporation and Cigna Health and L...