Frost

MEMORANDUM **

The district court properly reviewed MetLife’s denial of benefits for abuse of discretion. See Abatie v. Alta Health & Life Ins. Co., 458 F.3d 955, 963 (9th Cir.2006). The plan grants discretionary authority to “the Plan administrator and other Plan fiduciaries,” which includes MetLife as the claims administrator. See *591 Saffon v. Wells Fargo & Co. Long Term Disability Plan, 522 F.3d 863, 866-67 (9th Cir.2008).

MetLife abused its discretion in denying Frost benefits for the remainder of the 24-month period in which the Plan provided disability benefits if “you are unable to earn more than 80% of your Predisability Earnings or Indexed Predisability Earnings at your Own Occupation for any employer in your Local Economy.” The Plan defined “Own Occupation” as “the activity that you regularly perform and that serves as your source of income. It is not limited to the specific position you held with your Employer. It may be a similar activity that could be performed with your Employer or any other employer.”

Although Dr. Jares and Dr. Duvall stated generally in narrative form that Frost could perform her own occupation, their more specific delineations of Frost’s…

concurring in part and dissenting in part:

I concur in the majority’s decision in all respects but one. Because I believe that MetLife did not abuse its discretion in denying Frost benefits for the remainder of the 24-month period based on her ability to perform her “own occupation,” I respectfully dissent.

The Plan’s definition of “own occupation” is not limited to the Frost’s “specific position,” and may include “a similar activity that could be performed with [her] Employer or any other employer.” Although Dr. Jares and Dr. Duvall checked boxes on a worksheet indicating functional limitations that were apparently incompatible with Frost’s job as an operations manager, they do not necessarily preclude a finding that Frost could perform “similar activities.” Further, nothing in the Plan appears to require MetLife to list the other “similar activities” Frost could perform either with her own or another employer.

Moreover, although the checked boxes, by themselves, seem to rule out Frost’s specific job, the doctors’ narrative opinions clearly indicate that she was capable of performing her “own occupation,” and are well-supported by the record. Specifically, they rely on the…