Long Term Disability Law Blog
After suffering from fractures of both wrists, Kevin P. Dinger applied for disability benefits. Prudential Insurance Company of America wrongfully denied Mr. Dinger’s claim. Mr. Dinger hired a Louisiana disability attorney to file his ERISA lawsuit against Prudential in order to recover his group short term and group long term disability benefits per the terms of his policy. This ERISA complaint was filed on June 21, 2011 in the United States District Court in Louisiana.
In May 2010, Kevin P. Dinger, an employee of Oceaneering International for many years became disabled when he fractured both his wrists. Treated for his injuries on May 17, 2010 for “intra-articular and depression fractures,” Dinger was released and returned to work in November 2010. Later, Dinger’s treating physician retracted that release and terminated Dinger’s release to return to work.
Dinger’s Return to Work Delayed
Just before his scheduled return to work, Dinger’s employer sent Dinger to Bourgeois Medical Clinic for evaluation. The doctor who examined Dinger there order further medical treatment for Dinger and held up Dinger’s release to return to work until January 12, 2011. Dinger did indeed return to work on February 2, 2011.
After his initial disability, Dinger was awarded disability benefits from Prudential in the amount of $816.00, biweekly. Those benefits terminated on September 1, 2010, and Dinger was denied further disability benefit payments. Dinger appealed the decision in September and November 2010 and was denied both times, with the last denial on January 20, 2011. With no other recourse, Dinger and his Louisiana disability attorney have been forced to seek a District Court review of his claim. In the complaint Dinger and his Louisiana disability attorney allege that “the administrative record” “clearly prove[s] that the claimant, Mr. Dinger, was disabled as a result of his wrist injuries under the defendant’s policy and that the defendant has abused its discretion in denying benefits in [Dinger’s] case.”
Dinger and His Louisiana Disability Attorney Ask for Relief from the District Court of Lafayette-Opelousas Division
Dinger and his Louisiana disability attorney ask the district court to order Prudential to provide them with Dinger’s “administrative record in chronological and sequential order with consecutively-numbered pages rather than in random or shuffled order” for the “benefit of the party-litigants and the Court,” and that the court order Prudential to pay attorney’s fees and costs to cover the expense of having to file a complaint to settle the matter.