Brady v. United of Omaha Life Insurance

902 F. Supp. 2d 1274, 2012 WL 3583033, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 117434
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedAugust 20, 2012
DocketNo. C-12-2245 EMC
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 902 F. Supp. 2d 1274 (Brady v. United of Omaha Life Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brady v. United of Omaha Life Insurance, 902 F. Supp. 2d 1274, 2012 WL 3583033, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 117434 (N.D. Cal. 2012).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS (Docket No. 13)

EDWARD M. CHEN, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

On May 4, 2012, Plaintiff Leeann Brady brought suit against Defendant United of [1277]*1277Omaha Life Insurance Company (“United of Omaha”) under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), 29 U.S.C. §§ 1001, et seq., for the recovery of disability benefits alleged to have been improperly withheld by the Defendant, and for certain forms of equitable relief. See Compl. (Docket No. 1). On May 25, 2012, United of Omaha Filed a Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs Second Claim for equitable relief pursuant to Fed. R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), or, alternatively, to Strike certain provisions of that second claim under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(f). Def.’s Mot. to Dismiss (Docket No. 13). Having considered the parties’ submissions and oral argument, the Court GRANTS Defendant’s motion with prejudice for the reasons set forth below.

II. FACTUAL & PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiff Leeann Brady worked for Freed and Associates as a Healthcare Management Consultant, and, through the sponsorship of her employer, was enrolled in the “Freed and Associates Long Term Disability Plan” (“the Plan”), a group disability insurance contract issued and administered by Defendant United of Omaha. Compl. ¶¶ 3-5 (Docket No. 1). She became disabled on or about June 22, 2007, due to the “cognitive and physical symptoms” of Multiple Sclerosis, and was thereafter “unable to perform with reasonable continuity in the usual and customary manner, the substantial and material duties of her own occupation as a Healthcare Management Consultant.” Id. ¶ 6; see also Pl.’s Opp. (Docket No. 16) at 3. She alleges further that she is also “unable to perform with reasonable continuity in the usual and customary manner” any other occupation “for which she [is] qualified by education, training or experience,” a condition that exists to the present day. Id.

“Shortly after becoming disabled,” Plaintiff states that she “timely applied for [long-term disability] benefits” under the terms of the Plan based on her understanding that she “meet[s] the Plan’s definition of total disability.” Compl. ¶ 7 (internal quotations omitted). United of Omaha denied her claim for benefits on July 14, 2011, which, in turn, allegedly caused the Plaintiff to suffer “severe economic hardship and emotional distress,” and required her “to engage the services of legal counsel for the purpose of obtaining her insurance benefits.” Compl. ¶¶ 7, 12-13. Ms. Brady, through her attorney, “timely appealed [United of Omaha’s] decision, and provided [Defendant] with additional and overwhelming evidence in support of her claim.” Id. ¶ 8. United of Omaha again denied her claim for benefits on February 22, 2012, which prompted Plaintiff to file her present suit against the Defendant.

Plaintiffs complaint asserts two causes of action. The first is styled as an action under 29 U.S.C. § 1132(a)(1)(B), ERISA’s provision allowing civil actions for the recovery of benefits due under the terms of a covered plan, for enforcing rights under the terms of a plan, or for clarifying rights to future benefits under the terms of a plan. Plaintiffs cause of action under this provision seeks to recover benefits Plaintiff believes “are due [to her] under the [P]lan,” as well as “a declaration as to her entitlement to future benefits” and an “injunction prohibiting [Defendant] from terminating or reducing her benefits until the end of the maximum benefit period.” Compl. ¶¶ 19-20.

Plaintiffs second cause of action is brought under 29 U.S.C. § 1132(a)(3), [1278]*1278ERISA’s equitable relief provision. In this cause of action, Ms. Brady seeks a number of equitable remedies, including a judgment permanently enjoining the Defendant from:

1. Denying benefits to Plaintiff based on an interpretation of “total disability” different from that required under California law;
2. Obtaining input from biased medical consultants who are not appropriately trained and experienced in the conditions which are the subject of the claim;
3. Serving as a fiduciary with respect to the Plan; and
4. Terminating benefits for the duration of the applicable maximum benefit period under the Plan (a request for relief also sought in the first cause of action).

Compl. ¶¶ 26-27. The second cause of action seeks additional requests for money damages beyond the request for an award equaling the value of benefits that the Plaintiff should have received under the Plan. Compare Compl. ¶¶ 19 and 27. This additional request for damages seeks “interest on all retroactive payments due and owing,” as well as an unspecified amount that would put Ms. Brady “in the position she would have been in had she been paid the full amount of benefits to which she is entitled.” Compl. ¶ 27. Within this latter figure Plaintiff includes, by example, “interest, attorneys fees and other losses.” Id.

On May 25, 2012, United of Omaha filed a Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs second cause of action for equitable relief pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), or, alternately, a Motion to Strike certain provisions of that second cause of action under Fed. R.Civ.P. 12(f). Principally, the Defendant contends that the equitable relief sought by Plaintiff in the second cause of action is either “not permissible under [ERISA]” and thus “legally deficient as a matter of law,” or that material portions of it are “redundant, immaterial, [or] impertinent” and should be struck from Plaintiffs complaint as such. See Def.’s Mot. to Dismiss at 1,14.

III. DISCUSSION

A. Motion to Dismiss — Legal Standard

Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), a party may move to dismiss based on the failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. See Fed. R. Civ.P. 12(b)(6). A motion to dismiss based on Rule 12(b)(6) challenges the legal sufficiency of the claims alleged. See Parks Sch. of Bus. v. Symington, 51 F.3d 1480, 1484 (9th Cir.1995).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Filarsky v. Life Ins. Co. of N. Am.
391 F. Supp. 3d 928 (N.D. California, 2019)
Englert v. Prudential Insurance Co. of America
186 F. Supp. 3d 1044 (N.D. California, 2016)
Del Prete v. Magellan Behavioral Health, Inc.
112 F. Supp. 3d 942 (N.D. California, 2015)
Klees v. Liberty Life Assurance Co.
110 F. Supp. 3d 978 (C.D. California, 2015)
Zisk v. Gannett Co. Income Protection Plan
73 F. Supp. 3d 1115 (N.D. California, 2014)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
902 F. Supp. 2d 1274, 2012 WL 3583033, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 117434, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brady-v-united-of-omaha-life-insurance-cand-2012.