Short & Long Term Disability Cases We’ve Won for Our Clients in West Virginia

A welder from West Virginia developed permanent vision damage due to his job. He also developed a rare condition that caused him widespread and chronic pain called Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy (CHIPS). Wracked by pain and essentially blind, he knew that his days of welding were over. He applied for Long Term Disability benefits from his policy’s carrier but was denied. He tried appealing the decision on his own, but the insurer upheld their prior decision.

He wanted to sue the insurance company, but would not do it without some expert help. He hired Fields Law and our team of attorneys filed a lawsuit in federal court within a month, and the insurer was forced to respond. Our attorneys provided arguments at the insurer, who immediately moved to begin settlement discussions and the Fields Law team secured a favorable settlement for our client.

A Program Coordinator for a crime center in West Virginia developed a progressive and complex case of Small Cell Fiber Peripheral Neuropathy in all four of her extremities. Eventually, she was forced to leave work due to her symptoms which included perpetual Brain Fog, Double Vision, Insomnia, Severe Mobility Issues and Chronic Pain. She applied for Long Term Disability benefits and was approved. She remained on benefits for five months until the insurer cut them off with a denial letter.

CIGNA based their decision on a letter they had sent to one of her physicians, asking if she could return to work. He had said she could. The woman signed up with Fields Law to pursue her case against the insurance company. Our attorneys quickly determined that the doctor in question was not her primary treating doctor, but a specialist who didn’t have an accurate picture of the full spectrum of her conditions. Furthermore, our lawyers discovered that CIGNA then had sent a wholly different letter to her primary physician attempting to get him to agree with the first doctor’s opinion.

Our attorneys quickly wrote to her doctors to straighten things out and confirm their opinions that our client was unable to work. Our team also gathered all of the recent medical records to support the appeal our attorneys were drafting. The Fields Law attorneys submitted a lengthy appeal to CIGNA, supported by numerous exhibits. The insurer considered the appeal and soon overturned their prior denial decision. They then paid out back benefits and reinstated future benefits going forward.

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, her insurance provider, approved her application for Long Term Disability benefits, and she received benefits for almost ten years until she received a letter saying that she was no longer disabled would no longer receive benefits.

Shocked that Guardian would stop benefits after almost ten years, she contacted Fields Law Firm to assist with an appeal. Our attorneys searched through our client’s medical records and found Guardian had ignored several comments from doctors. The Fields Law attorneys called our client’s doctors to write full reports so the insurance provider could not ignore them in the appeal. Ultimately, our client was awarded continuing Long Term benefits and a lump-sum payment for back pay.