Patrice L. Goldman, Individually and on Behalf of Others Similarly Situated v. Standard Insurance Company

In 1996, appellant Patrice Goldman, an attorney, applied for a disability income insurance policy with appellee Standard Insurance Company (“Standard”) through a program approved by the State Bar of California and available only to its members. Standard declined to issue Goldman a policy, because she had been diagnosed as having an “Adjustment Disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood, DSM IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) 309.28,” and was participating in weekly therapy sessions with a licensed clinical social worker. Standard’s underwriting policy is to deny coverage for applicants with adjustment disorder until at least one year after the cessation of treatment.

Goldman initially filed suit in federal district court seeking damages and declaratory and injunctive relief for violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act (“ADA”), 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq.; California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act, California Civil Code section 51 (“Unruh Act”); and California Business and Professions Code section 17200 et seq., but shortly thereafter she dismissed her federal complaint and filed the same claims in California state court. Standard, however, removed the…