Ehrensaft
Ehrensaft v. Dimension Works Incorporated Long Term Disability Plan
Opinion
Lead Opinion
MEMORANDUM *
Plaintiff-appellant Eugene Ehrensaft appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment under ERISA in favor of his employer’s disability insurer, which denied Ehrensaft long-term benefits. We remand to the district court for application of the *909 treating physician rule in light of Regula v. Delta Family-Care Disability Survivorship Plan, 266 F.3d 1130 (9th Cir.2001), but otherwise affirm the district court’s application of an abuse of discretion standard to review the plan administrator’s denial of benefits.
Ehrensaft became the controller for Dimension Works Inc. (DWI) in November 1990. Plaintiff alleges that his job duties required him to stoop regularly, bend over, squat, lift heavy objects (boxes of documents, reams of paper, computer printouts, computer equipment), reach and twist. Plaintiff quit his employment on December 31, 1994, and, on or about January 9, 1995, submitted a claim for long-term disability benefit, asserting that he was permanently disabled due to a chronic back condition.
Standard Insurance Co. (Standard), DWI’s long-term disability insurer and administrator of the insurance policy (the ERISA plan), approved and paid Ehrensaft…