Letvinuck

MEMORANDUM **

Debra Letvinuck appeals the district court’s judgment in favor of Aetna Life Insurance Company and the Boeing Company Employee Health and Welfare Benefit Plan in Letvinuck’s action alleging that Aetna abused its discretion when it failed to extend short and long term disability benefits to her. We vacate and remand.

The district court expressed awareness of the need to take Aetna’s inherent conflict of interest into account; it cited to our explication of the appropriate standard in Abatie v. Alta Health & Life Ins. Co., 458 F.3d 955, 967-69 (9th Cir.2006) (en banc). The Supreme Court’s later decision did not affect that explication for purposes of this case. Metro. Life Ins. Co. v. Glenn, — U.S. —, -, 128 S.Ct. 2343, 2350-51 , 171 L.Ed.2d 299 (2008).

However, at two places in its Conclusions of Law the district court then cited a case decided before Abatie. See Jordan v. Northrop Grumman Corp. Welfare Benefit Plan, 370 F.3d 869, 875 (9th Cir.2004). That, itself, was not erroneous. Unfortunately, the district court also indicated that it was required to uphold Aetna’s decision if there was “any reasonable basis” for it. That was error. We expressly rejected that…