Elizabeth F. and her Texas disability lawyer filed suit against Liberty Life Assurance Company of Boston on November 3, 2011 in the United States District of Texas Lubbock Division to recover disability benefit payments that the insurer denied to her in violation of ERISA (the Employment Retirement Insurance Security Act of 1974) and the terms of her employee benefits plan.

As an employee of Wells Fargo & Company’s Long Term Disability Plan with Liberty, Elizabeth F. is entitled to disability benefits per the terms and conditions of her employer’s disability insurance policy.

Texas Claimant Appeals Decision of Liberty Life to No Avail

Denied her entitled disability benefits on December 29, 2010, Elizabeth F. filed an appeal to the denial of her claim and was again denied on July 29, 2011. Following through with the instructions of the policy and options for appealing decisions by Liberty, Elizabeth F. eventually exhausted all her administrative remedies for the recovery of her long term disability benefits, hired a Texas disability lawyer and filed a lawsuit against the insurance company.

Disabled due to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Elizabeth F.’s diagnosis was confirmed in the summer of 2010. At the time, she was well within the qualification period for her Wells Fargo Liberty Life policy to be viable. Prior to the 2010 diagnosis, Elizabeth F. had not been treated or diagnosed with ALS. Liberty stated its denial as a result of Elizabeth F.’s condition being a pre-existing condition, which it was not.

Texas Disability Attorney Alleges Liberty Life Breached ERISA and Other Federal Statues in Denying Client’s Disability Benefits

In violation of its own terms and conditions as well as ERISA and other federal statutes, Liberty Life should be required to remedy Elizabeth F.’s disability benefits situation. Elizabeth F. and her Texas disability lawyer have petitioned the Texas District Court to cite Liberty Life “to appear and answer, and on final trial” award judgment to Elizabeth F. against the insurer for “damages, past and future, plus pre-judgment and post judgment legal interest, for costs of suit, reasonable attorney fees and expenses incurred” and to order the insurer to clarify Elizabeth F.’s rights to “receive future benefits under the LTD [(long term disability)] Plan,” as well as provide Elizabeth F. “all other relief to which she may show herself justly entitled under the attending facts and circumstances.”