A stockholder at Greenberg Traurig LLP who claimed he could no longer operate as an attorney due to excessive exhaustion demanded that Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada reverse its decision to deny him disability compensation.
US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois rules that Sun Life should have continued looking into the shareholder’s possible psychological or cognitive issues before considering his appeal. It referred the benefits disagreement back to the insurance company for further investigation.
Trent Murch, a corporate attorney, resigned in 2018 due to significant exhaustion, discomfort, nausea, and other ailments and filed suit in 2020. Sun Life, from whom Murch sought disability payments, rejected his application in 2019 on the grounds that his medical issues did not preclude him from working.
Insurer dropped inquiry during appeal.
Murch appealed the decision internally. His attorney wrote a statement supporting his appeal, stating that Murch “is not suffering from a disabling psychiatric or cognitive impairment.” Sun Life stopped looking into whether or not Murch’s limitations qualified him for disability after getting that letter.
In her opinion released on Monday, Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman stated the court had made a mistake.
Coleman said that it was evident from the start that Murch’s claim was based on his belief that he was unable to work due to a combination of symptoms, some of which included psychological or cognitive impairments.
Plan participants weren’t informed.
“The Court finds it doubtful that Murch would have suddenly had this about-face regarding his claimed disabilities,” and “the record does not suggest that Murch disavowed claims based on cognitive and psychological impairments.”
The court noted that Sun Life’s “misinterpretation” of Murch’s claim caused them to withhold relevant information from the psychiatrist who evaluated his claim. The court said that because Murch was not informed of this during the appeals process, he was unable to address the insurer’s misunderstanding.
Murch is represented by Essex Richards and Bryant Legal Group PC. Sun Life is represented by Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP.
