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Case Summaries

Insurance Law

[07/08] Mobley v. Allstate Ins. Co.
In a suit brought under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) alleging failure to accommodate plaintiff's disability, discriminatory termination, and unlawful retaliation, summary judgment for defendant is affirmed where: 1) defendant reasonably accommodated plaintiff's disability; 2) plaintiff failed to establish her prima facie case that she was terminated due to discrimination and not for failure to meet her job's performance requirements; and 3) the retaliation claim failed as she did not establish a causal connection between her protected activity and the adverse action.

[07/07] Essinger v. Liberty Mut. Fire Ins. Co.
In an action arising out of a dispute between an insured and an insurer, a petition for rehearing is denied where the issue of damages for the defendant's conduct based on simple negligence, as opposed to bad faith, was not preserved and was not the basis for sua sponte reversal on appeal.

[07/07] Murray v. Greenwich Ins. Co.
In a declaratory judgment action seeking to determine rights and obligations under an insurance contract, summary judgment for plaintiffs is reversed and the case remanded where exclusion language in the contract applied, and defendant does not have a duty to defend since the claims asserted alleged an injury originating from plaintiffs' mishandling of funds.

[07/07] Lamp v. Astrue
In an action for disability insurance benefits and supplemental security income benefits, partial denial of benefits for claimant is affirmed in part and reversed in part where: 1) the ALJ did not err by considering its own observations when making an assessment regarding claimant's disability; and 2) the record did not reflect whether a letter submitted by claimant's doctor stating that he was disabled as of a certain date adequately explained a discrepancy between treatments notes and his statements.

[07/07] Paneccasio v. Unisource Worldwide, Inc.
In an action alleging violations of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) and ERISA arising after plaintiff's former employer terminated his deferred compensation plan, paid him deferred income, and ended his life insurance benefit, summary judgment for defendant is affirmed where: 1) "top hat plans", such as the one plaintiff participated in, are exempt from ERISA's provisions; 2) defendant's decision to terminate the plan was not arbitrary or capricious; 3) there was no evidence that plaintiff was induced into early retirement or that defendants anticipated an early termination of the plan; 4) plaintiff's ADEA claim was time barred and not subject to tolling; and 5) dismissal of plaintiff's state law claims was proper.

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