PROVEN LAWSUIT RESULTS

Bookseller/Author - Mokelumne Hill, CA

Autoimmune Disease

“A self-publishing author and employee of a California bookstore was only a few years away from retirement when she applied for and was granted long-term disability benefits from her private insurer. Then, in a two week time period, her husband died, she was evacuated from her home during a forest fire, and she developed complications with her auto-immune disease.

Completely distraught and grieving the loss of her partner, she was shocked when the insurer began harassing her with phone calls and threatening to discontinue her benefits. After reducing her payments by almost 70%, the insurance company abruptly cut off her benefit payments, claiming that the woman had failed to provide minor earnings information about several books she had written.

She felt like she couldn’t take the stress anymore, and just wanted to give up. Fortunately, she found Fields Disability while searching the internet, and gave us a call. She spoke with an attorney right away, and was relieved when we promised to fight the abusive insurer.

First and foremost, our attorneys put an immediate stop to the insurance company’s harassment, and provided the income information they claimed to be missing. We then demanded reinstatement of our client’s benefits, arguing that her income from the book sales was not covered under the disability policy and therefore could not be defined as active employment.

The insurer soon replied with a letter reinstating our client’s long-term disability benefits with back pay. However, our client wanted to get a lump sum settlement of her benefits, so she wouldn’t have to worry about being cut off again in the future.

The Fields Disability team worked diligently and quickly secured a full settlement of our client’s benefits claim. She soon received a large check in the mail, three times what she thought she would get! She was able to cash it knowing she would be financially secure and protected from any further harassment.”

Accountant - Marlinton, WV

Shoulder Pain, Neuropathy, Arthritis, Diabetes

“In 2005, an accountant from West Virginia seriously injured her shoulder in an accident at home. She had multiple surgeries, but ultimately regained only limited use of her right arm. She stopped working because she was in constant pain and had limited use of her dominant hand. Guardian Insurance approved her application for long-term disability benefits, and she received benefits from Guardian for almost ten years until she received a letter saying that she was no longer disabled and that Guardian would stop paying her benefits.

Shocked that Guardian would stop benefits after almost ten years, she contacted Fields Disability to assist with an appeal. Our attorneys diligently searched through our client’s medical records and found the insurance company ignored several comments from doctors. Fields Disability attorneys called our client’s doctors to write full reports so Guardian could not ignore them in the appeal. Ultimately, our client was awarded continuing long-term benefits and a lump-sum payment for back pay. She was pleased with the professional staff at Fields Disability and relieved to have financial peace of mind once again.”

Customer Service Representative - Forrest City, AR

Neuropathy, Amputated Toes

“A customer service representative from Arkansas began to lose feeling in his feet. Eventually, as a result of complications with diabetes he had three toes amputated. The alternating pain and numbness became too much and he was forced to stop work in 2015. He received long-term disability benefits for a few months through his employee insurance policy, but was suddenly told by the insurance company that he no longer fit their definition of “disabled”.

Worried that he was running out of money for treatment, he contacted Fields Disability for help with his appeal. The attorneys at Fields Disability scoured the insurer’s case file and gathered doctor’s reports to strengthen the appeal. The insurer denied the appeal.

Our attorneys filed a law suit in federal court against the insurance company. During preparations for trial, Fields Disability attorneys negotiated a generous lump-sum settlement for our client. He was happy to be done fighting the insurance company, and pleased to be able to use the settlement check to pay for his treatment.”

Line Worker - Bluefield, WV

Tachycardia, Hypertension, Neuropathy

“A Line Worker for a telecommunications company in West Virginia was diagnosed with a host of medical conditions, including tachycardia, hypertension, and neuropathy which resulted in an inability to perform work in any competitive setting. Although the insurance company properly paid benefits for nearly 24 months, it denied benefits and claimed the man could perform the extremely heavy duties of his job as a line-worker despite his cardiovascular conditions and neuropathy. The insurer also gave no weight to the fact that the Social Security Administration found claimant completely and totally disabled.

The man hired Fields Disability to file his case in federal court. Our attorneys argued that even if the man wasn’t totally disabled, the most insignificant physical limitation from his conditions would rule out his ability to work as a line worker. After several months of negotiations where we were able to increase the insurer’s top offer a number of times, we successfully negotiated a settlement with the insurance company that allowed the man to supplement his Social Security Disability income and care for his two young children.”

Director of Employee Services - Hager City, WI

Inflammatory Rheumatoid Arthritis, Restless Leg Syndrome, Low Back Pain, Cervical Radiculopathy

“Our client became totally disabled from his work due to his inflammatory rheumatoid arthritis, restless leg syndrome, low back pain, and cervical radiculopathy. He worked for many years as a Director of Employee Services for his employer. This job required him to travel to worksites in his region weekly for inspections. His physical limitations due to his conditions, especially with respect to standing, made it impossible for him to continue this work.

However, his insurance company denied the worker’s claim for long-term disability benefits, alleging that the worker’s occupation was sedentary in nature. The insurance company also claimed that a statement from the claimant’s physician did not contain physical restrictions severe enough to preclude him from performing the duties of his job.

The disabled employee made the decision to hire Fields Disability to help him fight the insurance company’s wrongful denial of benefits. The Fields Disability team showed that the insurance company failed to properly evaluate our client’s claim, and that by doing so, the insurance company breached its fiduciary duty to our client.

First, they had wholly misstated the physician’s statement, ignoring important limitations and restrictions imposed on our client by his doctor. In addition, they misclassified the disabled worker’s occupation as a sedentary position, when in fact, the position was not sedentary in nature at all. Our attorneys provided evidence that his client’s job was actually performed at a light duty, or even medium duty exertional level. Our team filed a lawsuit in federal court on behalf of our client and were able to settle the case for a lump sum without having to go to court.”