The Chartwell Chronicles: Permanent Disability
Physician Employment Agreements: Focus on Financial Planning
An Overview of New Jersey Workers' Compensation
An Overview of Massachusetts Workers' Compensation
Workers' Compensation Academy: Requests by Defense Counsel – A Defense Analysis of Materials Needed from Carriers and Clients for NJ Workers' Compensation Claims
An Overview of New York Workers' Compensation
Workers' Compensation Academy: Pennsylvania COVID-19 Update: Layoff or Furlough from Light Duty as a Result of COVID-19
In Newsom v. Reliance Standard Life Ins. Co., the Fifth Circuit clarified when it is appropriate for a district court to remand an ERISA dispute to a plan administrator for development of a merits record. 26 F.4th 329 (5th...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: A recent case from the Western District of North Carolina contains a helpful example of how the standards applicable to an employee’s request for accommodation of a disability differ from those for...more
Much has been written about the Department of Labor’s final rule regarding disability benefit claims procedures (the “Final Rule”), which took effect on April 2, 2018. And by now, most employers – and all disability insurance...more
Companies providing services on U.S. military bases overseas are probably familiar with the Defense Base Act (DBA), a comprehensive federal workers’ compensation scheme providing medical and income benefits to injured...more
In Van Steen v. Life Insurance Company N.A., the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the grant of long-term disability benefits to an employee working part-time....more
The U.S. Department of Labor announced earlier this year that the effective date for employee benefit plans to comply with its new final rule on disability claims procedures is April 1, 2018. The rule applies to claims for...more
The DOL issued final regulations that changed the handling of claims and appeals of disability determinations under benefit plans governed by ERISA. Here is what your benefits department needs to know and do: 1. Effective...more
Beginning April 1, 2018, new disability claim regulations may apply to some executive compensation arrangements. Given this pending regulatory deadline, employers need to analyze which of their executive compensation...more
On April 2, 2018, significant changes to ERISA’s disability claims procedures will take effect. These new rules will require all ERISA-covered plans which provide disability benefits to make significant modifications to the...more
On November 24, 2017, the United States Department of Labor ("DOL") announced a 90-day delay in the effective date of regulations that will significantly change the claims procedure requirements for employee benefit plans...more
As we prepare to turn the calendar to 2018, employers look ahead to the next wave of labor and employment regulations. On January 1, 2018, and throughout the coming year, employers across the nation will confront a host of...more
Even when a claims administrator approves a claim for disability benefits, its job is not done. That principle was again demonstrated in the recent case Owings v. United of Omaha Life Insurance Co., No. 16-3128 (10th Cir....more
All the single ladies . . . all the single ladies . . . Now put your hands up, oh, oh, oh . . . Imagine marketing director, Michelle, jamming to this Beyonce song in the middle of AT&T Stadium in Dallas. On that very...more
The Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued regulations that revise the ERISA claims procedure regulations for employee benefit plans that provide disability benefits (the “New Disability Claims Regulations” or “New Regulations”)....more
Independent contractors and other contingent workers are not currently eligible for workers’ compensation, disability benefits, health insurance coverage, and pension benefits under federal and most state laws. This may well...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In an opinion that may result in increasingly complex ERISA benefits litigation, the Eighth Circuit has allowed a breach of fiduciary duty claim premised on alleged faulty claims handling practices to...more
On March 15, 2017, in Moss v. Harris County Constable Precinct One, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reaffirmed that an employer is not required to accommodate an employee who is requesting indefinite leave as a reasonable...more
When an employee tests positive for illegal drug use or self-discloses such use, many employers condition return to work on the employee’s participation in a substance abuse treatment program. These programs can include drug...more
When applying de novo review to a claim for disability benefits under a group disability policy governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), district courts must consider all the evidence and...more
On April 11, 2016, California Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation that will increase the wage replacement rate under the Paid Family Leave program for California workers from its current level of 55 percent to 60 or 70...more
Now, faced with an aging baby-boomer generation and increased costs related to disability litigation, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefit Security Administration (DOL) has proposed new rules that would revise and...more
The Department of Labor published proposed changes to its regulations governing disability claims and appeals in the Federal Register on November 18, 2015, and invited comments. The stated purpose of the proposed changes is...more
In Casteel v. Charter Communications, Inc., No. C13-5520 RJB (W.D. Wash. Oct. 23, 2014), a federal judge in Western Washington denied an employer’s motion for summary judgment on a failure-to-accommodate claim under the...more