Saffon

Facts

Graciela Saffon has long suffered from degeneration of her cervical spine, a condition confirmed by repeated MRI scans and X-rays. After a car crash aggravated her condition in December 2001, Saffon quit her desk job at Wells Fargo Bank and applied for disability benefits from defendant, the Wells Fargo & Co. Long Term Disability Plan. The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MetLife), which served both as the Plan’s insurer and as its claims administrator, promptly began to pay her short-term disability benefits. Saffon eventually applied for long-term disability benefits, which MetLife granted. After paying long-term benefits for a year, MetLife informed Saffon that she “no longer m[et] the definition of disability” and terminated her long-term benefits. Saffon then unsuccessfully availed herself of MetLife’s administrative appeals process.

Saffon sued the Plan under 29 U.S.C. § 1132(a), seeking payment of withheld benefits, attorney’s fees and a declara- tion that she is disabled. After a bench trial on the administra- tive record, the district court concluded that the Plan hadn’t abused its discretion and denied Saffon any relief.

Standard of Review

[1] 1. We review…