Torres

MEMORANDUM *

Plaintiff-Appellant Donna Osbourne Torres appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Defendant-Appellee Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company (Reliance Standard) in her action filed pursuant to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), 29 U.S.C. § 1001 et seq., seeking to recover long-term disability benefits. We have jurisdiction to hear this appeal under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . Because the parties are familiar with the facts, we do not recount them here except as necessary to explain our decision.

We review de novo a district court’s grant of a motion for summary judgment. Bergt v. Ret. Plan for Pilots Employed by MarkAir, Inc., 293 F.3d 1139, 1142 (9th Cir.2002).

First, we hold that the district court correctly determined that an abuse of discretion standard of review with a heightened “moderate level” of scrutiny should apply. It was procedural error for Reliance Standard to rely upon information gleaned from the Internet regarding Plaintiffs social activities in its final denial letter because Plaintiff could not reasonably anticipate Reliance Standard’s consideration of this information. See Saffon v. Wells Fargo &…