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Applying for your private employer’s disability benefits requires substantial effort and clear documentation. These applications often fail, and appeals may be denied. At that point, filing an ERISA disability lawsuit in Nashville is your last option to receive the benefits you have earned.
The ERISA attorneys at Cody Allison & Associates have substantial experience fighting on behalf of disabled workers, and we are talented litigators. Contact us if you are having trouble accessing your ERISA disability benefits. We can represent you regardless of your state of residence.
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) covers disability benefits offered by private employers to their workers. Church and government employee benefits are not covered by ERISA, but most others are.
ERISA requires that the plan administrator offer plan participants a copy of their policy on request. The policy must describe the benefits application process and the definitions the administrator uses to determine whether a worker is disabled. ERISA also requires the administrator to develop a process for participants to appeal the plan administrator’s decisions regarding their claim.
According to 29 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations § 2560.503-1(H)(3)(i), you have 180 days to file an appeal if your claim is denied. Some plans offer multiple appeals, and some offer only one. You must take advantage of all appeal possibilities before you can sue in court—this is called exhausting your administrative remedies. It is essential to get help from our Nashville ERISA attorneys if you must appeal a disability claim.
If you must sue, you need to understand that federal ERISA lawsuits are different from other types of legal claims. You will not gather new evidence or find witnesses to testify on your behalf, and you have no right to a jury trial. Instead, a judge rules based solely on the record created during the initial application and appeal.
These lawsuits often focus on whether the plan administrator followed ERISA procedural requirements when deciding your claim. Sometimes our attorneys question whether the administrator upheld their fiduciary duty, which requires the administrator to prioritize your interests ahead of the insurance company’s or the employer’s.
Judges often uphold the insurer’s decision if they can find support for its reasonableness in the administrative record. Our Nashville-based lawyers may persuade the judge to use a more discerning standard that focuses more on the violation of your right to ERISA disability benefits.
ERISA disability lawsuits differ from other types of federal lawsuits in another important respect. If you win, you will not receive money damages for the harm you suffered because of the administrator’s wrongful denial.
If our Nashville attorneys prove that you deserve ERISA disability benefits, the judge will require the administrator to pay the unpaid benefits. You may receive a lump sum for the period between the denial and the date of the judge’s decision, but you are not entitled to compensation for your physical or emotional distress, inconvenience, or similar losses. However, the judge may award you attorney’s fees.
If you have applied for disability benefits from your employer-sponsored plan and been denied, then appealed without success, contact us. Filing an ERISA disability lawsuit in Nashville is your last option.
At Cody Allison & Associates, we have been managing ERISA disability claims on behalf of people like you for more than 25 years. From our office in Nashville, we help clients across the country pursue the ERISA disability benefits they deserve. Get in touch today so that we can put our experience to work for you.