Klund
Klund v. High Technology Solutions, Inc.
Opinion
Opinion
Major, J.
ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR PROTECTIVE ORDER [Doc. No. 14]
On March 21, 2005, Plaintiff instituted this action to contest Defendants’ denial of her claim for long-term disability benefits under plans regulated by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). On August 12, 2005, Plaintiff served discovery requests on Defendants. Dorny Decl. at Exs. A and B. Defendants refused to respond to the discovery requests, insisting that such discovery is inappropriate in an ERISA case. Id. at Ex. D. In summary, Defendants argue that the correct standard of review of the denial of benefits is abuse of discretion and the review is limited to the administrative record so no discovery is permitted, whereas Plaintiff argues that she is entitled to discovery to determine whether there was a conflict of interest such that the standard of review should be heightened to a de novo review.
Accordingly, on September 6, 2005, Defendants filed a Motion for Protective Order. Pursuant to the briefing schedule issued by the Court [Doc. No. 16], Plaintiff timely opposed the motion on September 16, 2005. On September 23, 2005, Defendants filed a reply and…