Donna Ray v. The Prudential Insurance Compa

MEMORANDUM

Plaintiff-Appellant Donna C. Ray appeals the district court’s decision granting summary judgment on her claims relating to Defendant-Appellee Prudential Insurance Company of America (“Prudential”)’s denial of her claim for long-term disability benefits. Prudential denied Ray’s claim in 1995, but Ray did not file this action until 2009. Ray concedes that her claims are time barred unless the doctrines of equitable estoppel or waiver apply. We review the district court’s decision to grant summary judgment de novo. Michelman v. Lincoln Nat’l Life Ins. Co., 685 F.3d 887, 892 (9th Cir.2012) (citation omitted). We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

Relying on Spray, Gould & Bowers v. Associated International Insurance Co., 71 Cal.App.4th 1260, 1266-74 , 84 Cal.Rptr.2d 552 (1999), Ray argues that equitable estoppel should preclude Prudential from asserting the statute of limitations defense because it had a duty to disclose the statute of limitations to her pursuant to Cal.Code Regs. tit. 10, § 2695.4(a) and § 2695.7(f). Section 2695.4(a) does not apply here because by its own terms it applies to “time limits ... of any insurance policy” and not…