Blog - ERISA and Disability Rights and Benefits - Alabama - The Martin Law Group, LLC

Since ERISA is a federal statute and we focus on ERISA claims, we primarily practice in federal court. Pleading any case in federal court has its unique requirements; however, pleading a discrimination case has specific minimum requirements, which was recently illustrated in a case in the Elevent...

Depending on the claim, your ERISA pension could be taken away by companies that will then deprive you of a full and fair review in court. And, unfortunately, some courts go along with them. This was illustrated in a pending ERISA pension and retirement case in Mississippi. Facts of the Case: ...

Many clients have the impression that once their long-term disability benefit has been approved, they need only to complete annual forms to maintain their approval. The case Boatright v. Aetna Life Insurance Company recently decided by Judge Tom Barber in the Middle District of Florida on April 5...

We have all seen the recent increase of “help-wanted” and “now hiring” signs. It seems there are not enough people looking for jobs – especially in the restaurant and hotel industries. Surveys reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in December 2021 noted that 958,000 restaurant and hotel work...

The treating physician rule required decision-makers to accord special deference to the opinions of treating physicians. The rule is no longer applicable in Social Security cases or ERISA cases. In 2003, the Supreme Court adopted what is considered to be a middle-of-the-road approach, in which de...

So, you settled a personal injury lawsuit. An ERISA medical benefits plan previously put you on notice that it had paid medical expenses. The subrogation demand is a significant portion of the settlement. Do you have to pay the plan in full before you disburse funds to the client? What about your...

In 2021, the Department of Labor (DOL) collected $234 million in back wages for 200,000 employees in violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This area of law could be a prime practice area for the plaintiff's counsel, as the DOL is likely only scratching the surface of the problem. ...

Being a home healthcare nurse can be a very challenging job. Deanna Pierce knows that all too well. She is also familiar with the ERISA games played by employers relating to an unsafe workplace environment. Sometimes those games are inappropriate and repulsive. Her case, Pierce v. Aveanna Healthc...

Outliers within evidence or a data set may not mean much in many areas of the law. However, with ERISA, an outlier may be all that is needed for insurers such as Hartford to deny a claim. If a physician does not note or consider that a piece of evidence is an outlier, a hasty judgment can result ...

In the area of benefits, Congress has occasionally demonstrated the ability to enact a law that exists as an illusion of protection, one of which is the Uniformed Services Former Spouses' Protection Act (FSPA), 10 U.S.C. § 1408. This act was intended to protect a spouse who is married to a member...

This alphabet soup sounds like a joke whose punchline only a labor relations lawyer would appreciate. But even they may not find it funny. Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) In, Johnson Controls Security Solutions, LLC v. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 103, No. 21-1460,...

For many years medical benefit plans have been very aggressive in connection with personal injury claims. The level of aggression and the refusal to negotiate have left many plaintiffs' attorneys looking for ways to get past burdensome plan terms. Sometimes these efforts are successful, and somet...

Cancer is at the root of many claims relating to one's ability to work, such as ADA claims and medical benefits claims. A frequent reason for denying medical benefit claims is a lack of medical necessity, another is that a procedure is investigational or experimental. A frequently denied claim re...

Many general civil practitioners may handle a few domestic relations or divorce cases. We frequently hear complaints from clients regarding QDROs. Just mentioning those words can cause some eyes to glance over. The vast number of acronyms found in ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code can be intimi...

I am always fascinated when I see a video of someone “messing” with a COBRA. While I am not terrified of snakes, I have no desire to be within the striking distance of a poisonous one. The problem is, I am not really sure of the range of all snakes. Accordingly, I stay as far away as possible. So...

The case Laake v. The Benefits Comm., W. & S. Fin. Grp. Co. Flexible Benefits Plan, No. 1:17-CV-611 (WOB-SKB), 2021 WL 5166377 (S.D. Ohio Nov. 5, 2021), illustrates a common game plan administrators and insurers play with ERISA disability. That is to admit disability but latch onto a benefit that...

If you practice in the area of domestic relations, then you are familiar with QDROs. As you know a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) is a legal order in a domestic relations proceeding that addresses retirement benefits governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). A QD...

We're reviving our #FAQuesday series in January 2022 to provide you and your clients with the information needed for ERISA claims. Today, we're addressing perhaps a question that you've never considered with ERISA claims: In a long-term disability claim, can an insurance company make a claimant p...

Agroupur Inc. will soon learn the answer to how reasonable an employer must be in accommodating a disability. The dairy processor had an employee who learned that she had a severe eczema skin condition arising from an allergy to rubber and plastics which she discovered when she had to wear a cert...

Sometimes we are asked the question if my client has a workers' comp injury, are they still allowed to file a claim for long-term disability or disability retirement? The answer to that question is they certainly should check because it may be possible to proceed with both claims or even all thre...

Mr. Hornady filed a lawsuit against his employer, Outokumpo Stainless, in 2018 under the Fair Labor Standards Act due to various wage and hour violations, including failure to pay regular wages for all time clocked in, failure to pay overtime wages, and failure to pay promised bonuses. Discovery ...

The 11th Circuit in a per curium opinion recently addressed the issue of when a case accrues under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)in Karantsalis v. City of Miami Springs, Fla., 20-11134 (11th Cir. Nov. 12, 2021). Mr. Karantsalis developed MS in 2008, and even though he could walk, run, ...

Remand is a word that often arises in ERISA cases. It typically refers to a court returning a case back to the plan administrator (which is often an insurance company, if the plan is insured) to correct a mistake, and then make a decision again. The concurrence of a recent opinion raises some int...

A recent Fifth Circuit case reminds us of one of the tactics insurance companies may use to wear down claimants. As we all know, many claimants who suffer from restrictions or chronic pain go through difficult times and grow weary of pressing on with their case. They want to give up, which is exa...

Pain does not always directly correlate to the extent of an injury. In “Amplified Pain – A Helpful Diagnosis,” published recently in JAMA Pediatrics, Dr. David Sherry gave the example of pricking one's finger in his discussion of disproportional pain. The damage is minor, but the pain is real. In...