Mark David Welsh v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co

MEMORANDUM

The estate of David L. Welsh (“Welsh”) appeals from the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, et al. (“MetLife”), which administers an employee benefit plan governed by ERISA. We review for abuse of discretion MetLife’s denial of Welsh’s claim for long term disability benefits, see Abatie v. Alta Health & Life Ins. Co., 458 F.3d 955, 967-69 (9th Cir.2006) (en banc) (holding abuse of discretion review is appropriate when ERISA plan grants discretion to the plan administrator), and the district court’s denial of a portion of Welsh’s discovery requests, see Preminger v. Peake, 552 F.3d 757 , 768 n. 10 (9th Cir.2008). We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and we affirm. The parties are familiar with the facts underlying each challenge and thus we do not include them here.

The district court properly granted summary judgment to MetLife because “a review informed by the nature, extent, and effect on the decision-making process” of MetLife’s structural conflict of interest, Abatie, 458 F.3d at 967 , reveals that Met-Life did not abuse its discretion in denying Welsh’s claim for benefits based on the record…