A sleep apnea sufferer and her California disability lawyer filed suit against Reliance Standard Life Insurance in the United States District Court Southern District of California under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to try to retrieve her terminated disability benefits.

A paralegal for the same law firm for some thirty years, Debbie C. found herself without a job and without disability benefits due to her incapability to stay awake at work and function at her job. Debbie C. initially took leave from her job on November 19, 2007 in an attempt to seek medical help for her increasingly difficult effort to manage sleep apnea.

Debbie C. Is Fired For Falling Asleep At Work

With every expectation of returning to work, Debbie C. took a leave of absence from work to attend to her medical condition of “depression, fatigue, diabetes, hypertension and venous insufficiency”. During her leave, she was denied disability benefits and attempted to return to work, but ceased permanently working on October 8, 2008. Unable to perform her required job duties, Debbie C. applied to Reliance for long term disability benefits and “underwent a sleep study which confirmed a diagnosis of severe obstructive sleep apnea.” Trying various sleep therapies, including use of CPAP, Ambien, and other sleep enhancing treatments, Debbie C. was given until January 1, 2009 to solve the problem of falling asleep at work to retain her job, with no success. Jobless and still suffering from insomnia, Debbie C. was fired from her position in January of 2009. At that time, Debbie C. applied for long term disability benefits from Reliance was denied the claim and appealed to no avail.

Claimants Efforts To Claim Her Entitled Reliance Disability Benefits

Armed with a letter from her previous employer testifying to the fact that Debbie C. was fired because of her medical disability as well as several opinions from treating physicians verifying her condition and numerous medical records reporting Debbie C.’s efforts to find a solution to her disability, Debbie C. again applied for her Reliance disability benefits and was again denied.

Consequently, Debbie C. was left with little choice but to entrust her financial future to a California District Court and on August 25, 2001, Debbie C. and her California disability attorney filed a lawsuit against the insurer for “its unreasonably, arbitrary and capricious denial of benefits.”

Basis For Debbie C. And Her California Disability Attorney’s Lawsuit Against Reliance

In the complaint, Debbie C.’s California disability attorney stated that Reliance’s capricious and arbitrary denial is evidenced by the following.

• Reliance ignored the opinions of Debbie C.’s treating physicians in both claims;
• Reliance minimized and ignored medical evidence that verified Debbie C.’s disability;
• Reliance claimed that Debbie C. was not entitled to long term disability when she filed her second claim because she lost her coverage during her leave of absence; and
• Reliance collected premiums from Debbie C. during her return to work and then failed to give coverage or refund those premiums.

For the above reasons, Debbie C. and her California disability attorney have petitioned the United States District Court for the Southern District of California for “an award of benefits in the amount not paid Ms. Debbie C. from on or about February 17, 2008 to the date of judgment” with interest, an order that states that Debbie C. is entitled to future payments as long as she remains disabled according to the terms of her Reliance plan, an award of reasonable attorney fees, and any “other and further relief” the Court determines is “just and proper.”