Cecil White v. Jacobs Engineering Group Long Term Disability Benefit Plan

Overview

Defendant Jacobs Engineering Group Long Term Disability Plan ceased paying benefits to Plaintiff-Appellant White after notifying him that he was no longer entitled to them because he did not meet the plan’s definition of total disability. White sued defendants to recover benefits allegedly due to him and for reinstatement of benefit payments. The district court granted summary judgment to the defendants on the ground that White failed to exhaust his administrative remedies by filing a written appeal within 60 days after receiving notice of denial of benefits. It also granted summary judgment to the defendants on their counterclaim for benefits paid while White allegedly was not totally disabled. White argues that the Plan does not establish a 60-day limit on the appeal period because the appeal period is mentioned only in the Summary Plan Description and in letters sent to recipients terminating benefits; that even if there is a 60-day time bar, the benefit termination letters to White did not trigger it because they failed adequately to notify White of the specific reasons for termination, as required by ERISA and Department of Labor (DOL) regulations; and that the…