Farhat

Farhat v. Hartford Life & Accident Insurance

Good Law

439 F. Supp. 2d 957·2006 WL 1626649·2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 38808

United States District Court, Northern District of CaliforniaJune 9, 2006C 05-0797 PJHCalifornia6,535 words

Opinion

Hamilton, J.

ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT; DENYING DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

The parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment came on for hearing before this court on May 31, 2006. Having read the parties’ papers and carefully considered their arguments and the relevant legal authorities, the court GRANTS plaintiffs motion for summary judgment and DENIES defendants’ motion for summary judgment for the reasons that follow.

BACKGROUND

This is a case brought pursuant to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), 29 U.S.C. § 1001 , et seq., challenging defendants’ denial of payment of long-term disability (“LTD”) benefits. Plaintiff Ali Farhat (“Farhat”) was employed by Pricewaterhouse Coopers’ (“PWC”) tax department for nearly twenty years. Farhat was insured under the PWC Plan, an ERISA plan, issued by Hartford Life (“Hartford”). Farhat began receiving short-term disability (“STD”) benefits on April 21, 2003. Thereafter, he applied for, but was denied LTD benefits. He challenges that denial in this case.

Farhat, who is currently fifty-five years-old, is HIV-positive. Many of the issues in this case are related to whether Farhat’s LTD…

Sign in to read the full opinion

Create a free account to read the complete opinion text, citation history, and good-law status for this case.