Wages v. Sandler O'Neill & Partners, L.P.

Type

Opinion of the Court

Author

David Aldrich Nelson

Filed

March 1, 2002

Case

Wages v. Sandler O'Neill & Partners, L.P.

Case status

Decided

The first passage of the document, as extracted by the source provider.

NELSON, Circuit Judge. This is an ERISA case that arises out of the denial of a claim for permanent disability benefits under an employee benefit plan. The district court dismissed the plaintiff employee’s challenge to the denial of the benefits, concluding that as a matter of law the administrative record failed to show that the decision to deny benefits was arbitrary and capricious. We have reached the same conclusion upon de novo review of the record, and the judgment entered by the district court will therefore be affirmed. I The plaintiff, Regina Wages, began working for defendant Sandler O’Neill Partners as a servicing sales coordinator in January of 1992. Sandler O’Neill provides its employees coverage under a group disability insurance policy issued by its co-defendant in this matter, Continental Casualty Company/CNA Insurance Company. The coverage qualifies as an employee welfare benefit plan under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 1001 , et seq. Sandler O’Neill is the designated plan administrator. In October of 1996 the plaintiff visited her primary care physician, Dr. William F. *110 Craven, complaining of pain and fatigue. Dr. Cr…

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