Short & Long Term Disability Cases We’ve Won for Our Clients Against The Hartford

Our disability attorneys filed an ERISA appeal for a nurse who worked for many years on the labor and delivery floor of a hospital and in a special needs nursery. The former nurse suffered from reflex sympathetic dystrophy/complex regional pain syndrome (RSD/CRPS). The Hartford denied her disability claiming that she did not meet the policy definition of disabled and that there were no objective findings of her impairments. However, its denial was based on an incomplete review of our client’s medical records. Our client’s records were filled with evidence of her ongoing pain and symptoms, which made her simply unable to do her job.

Our team fought hard to reverse the decision of The Hartford. We obtained letters from our client’s treating doctors to refute the denial. We also supported the appeal with the Social Security Administration’s finding that our client is entirely disabled due to her RSD/CRPS. Our appeal presented the medical evidence clearly so that the insurance company could not deny that she is disabled. She was thrilled to have the decision reversed and to be awarded ongoing benefits. Since our client was injured at work, we were also able to represent her in a Workers’ Compensation claim. We helped her obtain a significant settlement from the Workers’ Compensation insurer.

A Financial Assistance Specialist was unable to work due to major depression and anxiety. The Hartford, which had initially paid her benefits suddenly stopped, even though she had seen no improvement in her symptoms.

She reached out to Fields Law Firm, who did not hesitate to start preparing an appeal that showed her psychological condition had not changed and that she remained entitled to benefits. In this appeal, we showed that The Hartford based its denial on a selective and partial review of our client’s medical records. We also obtained medical opinions from her treating doctors to support the persistence of her impairments. Our appeal was successful and our client was relieved when she learned that her benefits would continue. The Hartford reinstated disability benefits after the Fields Law attorneys successfully appealed its decision to discontinue a disabled worker’s benefits.

A security counselor worked at a correctional facility before becoming disabled with chronic upper extremity pain, bilateral shoulder pain and right shoulder impingement syndrome, which required surgery. He applied for and received Long Term Disability benefits while he continued to rehabilitate from his surgery. After a few months, the insurance company terminated his benefits, alleging that he was capable of performing all of the substantial physical activity requirements listed in his employer’s job description.

The corrections officer approached Fields Law to represent him in appealing the discontinuation of his benefits. The team at Fields Law worked diligently to review all of the information The Hartford had in its file and supplemented that with updated medical records from our client’s providers. Based on our experience, we knew that The Hartford had possibly glossed over the administrative record and cherry picked evidence to support their denial. We noticed that The Hartford never considered the need to defend oneself and others when intervening with combative inmates. Although rare in terms of frequency on a daily basis, the need to physically intervene when the threat arises is fundamental to the job of a security counselor.

The Fields Law attorneys drafted a strong appeal for our client, highlighting the importance of a security counselor’s ability to physically restrain combative inmates, even if the occurrence is rare. Our attorneys clearly detailed that The Hartford had failed to consider our client’s inability to physically restrain an inmate or defend himself due to his bilateral shoulder impingement, they then reversed the denial and reinstated benefits.