Shane

I. BACKGROUND

Ms. Shane is a former Albertson’s employee and partici- pated in Albertson’s Disability Plan. In April of 1999, Ms. SHANE v. ALBERTSON’S INC. 13973 Shane suffered a knee injury and began receiving LTD Bene- fits on January 31, 2000. From January 31, 2000, through Jan- uary 30, 2002, Ms. Shane received and was continuously re- approved for LTD benefits. However, based upon the results of a “2 year Recertification” initiated by Albertson’s in April of 2002, Albertson’s Medical Review Committee (“MRC”) discontinued Ms. Shane’s LTD benefits beyond April 30, 2003, stating that Ms. Shane no longer met the Disability Plan’s definition of “Total Disability.” Ms. Shane’s adminis- trative appeal of the decision was denied on September 23, 2003. On February 16, 2004, Ms. Shane filed the instant suit in district court pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 1132(a) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”).

Before the district court, several issues were presented including whether the court should refer to Albertson’s Dis- ability Plan effective as of August 1, 1993 (the “1993 Disabil- ity Plan”) or the Disability Plan effective as of February 1, 2002 (the…