Pak, M.D. v. Guardian Life Insurance Company of America
Opinion
Trial Court Opinion
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 JOHNATHAN PAK, M.D., Case No. 21-cv-05032-WHO
Plaintiff,
ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR
v. PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT
GUARDIAN LIFE INSURANCE Re: Dkt. No.
COMPANY OF AMERICA,
11 Defendant.
12 Plaintiff Johnathan Pak filed suit against defendant Guardian Life Insurance Company of America (“Guardian”), asserting claims of breaches of contract and of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing arising from Guardian’s denial of Pak’s claim for total disability benefits. The issue in Pak’s motion for partial summary judgment is whether his “occupation,” as the term is defined in his insurance policies, is pediatric anesthesiology. The contract language states that a claimant’s specialty is his occupation if he limits his work to that specialty; specialty certification alone, which is what Pak acontends, does not suffice. There is a dispute of material fact over whether Pak limited his pre-disability work to pediatric anesthesiology. As a…