Thompson v. Hartford Life & Accident Insurance

270 F.R.D. 277, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 108736, 2010 WL 3992302
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Kentucky
DecidedOctober 12, 2010
DocketNo. 1:09-cv-00164
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 270 F.R.D. 277 (Thompson v. Hartford Life & Accident Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Thompson v. Hartford Life & Accident Insurance, 270 F.R.D. 277, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 108736, 2010 WL 3992302 (W.D. Ky. 2010).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

THOMAS B. RUSSELL, Chief Judge.

This matter comes before the Court on Defendant’s Motion to Strike Certain Portions of the Plaintiffs Complaint (DN 7). Plaintiff has responded (DN 16), and Defendant has replied (DN 18). This matter is now ripe for adjudication. For the following reasons, Defendant’s Motion is DENIED.

Also before the Court, Plaintiff requests leave to file his First Amended Complaint. For the following reasons, Plaintiffs request is GRANTED. Defendant has FOURTEEN (14) DAYS from the date of this order to respond.

[278]*278BACKGROUND

This is an action seeking relief under the Employment Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), as amended, 29 U.S.C. § 1001, et seq. Plaintiff Gary D. Thompson seeks payment of long-term disability benefits under the Long Term Disability Plan for employees. Defendant Hartford Life and Accident Insurance Company (“Hartford”) brought this Motion To Strike portions of Thompson’s complaint before filing a responsive pleading under Rule 12.

The relevant facts for this Motion to Strike are as follows. Thompson was employed with U.S. Foodservice for approximately 15 years, and during that time he was insured under a long term disability insurance policy sold, underwritten and issued by Hartford. The policy pays holders for disability on two bases: (1) for the first 24 months of a disability, benefits from the policy are payable if the policy holder is unable to perform the duties of their regular occupation (“regular occupation benefits”) and (2) subsequent to the first 24 months of the disability, policy benefits are then only paid out if the policy holder is unable to perform the duties of any occupation for which the policy holder is qualified by education, training, or experience (“any occupation benefits”).

At some point in September of 2006, Thompson became disabled1 and received disability benefits from Hartford beginning in October of 2006. While Thompson was paid regular occupation benefits up until March 2009, Hartford terminated his disability benefits after the first 24 months of the disability because Hartford felt that Thompson did not meet the policy’s requirements for any occupation benefits.

On December 7, 2009, Thompson filed this complaint seeking reinstatement of his policy benefits and payment for any prior unpaid benefits to which he had been entitled. Included in the complaint were a number of allegations by Thompson supposedly demonstrating the bias of Hartford and their employees when deciding whether or not to award benefits to policy holders. In response, Hartford brought this Motion to Strike Portions of the Plaintiffs Complaint under Rule 12(f). Specifically, Hartford took issue with paragraphs 110-111, 113-119, and 125-126 in Thompson’s original Complaint. DN 7-2 at 9. Paragraphs 125 and 126 read as follows:

¶ 125. On occasion, [Hartford] employee performance appraisals identify the specific sums of claims reserves that an employee has saved Hartford. For example, “achieved a total of 18 RTW and 6 RTW ER____Her activities realized a cost savings of approx. $4,062,185.00 for the team.” ¶ 126. Hartford employees pay special scrutiny to claims that may cause Hartford to pay benefits for long periods of time, depleting Hartford’s assets. For example, “So we’ve bought claim for another 30yrs?”

DN 1 at 20. In the initial complaint, no supporting documentation was attached to indicate the origin of these quotes or even whether the statements were attributable to Hartford.

Before ruling on Hartford’s Motion to Strike, this Court issued a stay in the proceedings to permit the parties an opportunity to explore whether a settlement was possible. DN 11 at 1. While the stay was still in effect, Thompson filed his First Amended Complaint, in which paragraphs 110-111 and 113 -119 were removed.2 DN 15 at 17. Additionally, the documents from which the quotes in paragraphs 125 and 126 were derived were attached to the amended complaint.3 DN 15-3; DN 15-4. This Court then lifted the stay, ordering that any response to the Motion to Strike be filed no later that July 15, 2010, and any reply filed [279]*279by August 12, 2010. Hartford then renewed its objection to paragraphs 125 and 126 in its Reply to the Motion to Strike. DN 18.

DISCUSSION

Hartford alleges that including paragraphs 125 and 126 in the First Amended Complaint is inappropriate as the documents upon which the paragraphs are based do not relate in any way to Hartford’s decision to terminate Thompson’s disability payments. Thompson claims that paragraphs 125 and 126 simply shed light on Hartford’s practice of encouraging its employers to deny claims made by policy holders. As such, Thompson states that the paragraphs are demonstrative of Hartford’s bias and conflict of interest in evaluating the claims on their policies.

Rule 12(f) allows a court to “strike from a pleading an insufficient defense or any redundant, immaterial, impertinent, or scandalous matter.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(f). A court may strike portions of the pleading acting on its own initiative or “on a motion made by a party ... before responding to the pleading.” Id. Courts are given considerable discretion in deciding whether to strike portions of pleadings under 12(f). See id.; see also Delta Consulting Group, Inc. v. R. Randle Const., Inc., 554 F.3d 1133, 1141 (7th Cir.2009); Talbot v. Robert Matthews Distrib. Co., 961 F.2d 654, 665 (7th Cir.1992). Courts have generally decided to strike portions of a pleading for being impertinent or scandalous only where the language is extreme or offensive. See Garrett v. Selby Connor Maddux & Janer, 425 F.3d 836, 841 (10th Cir.2005) (quoting Phillips v. Carey, 638 F.2d 207, 208 (10th Cir.1981)) (“[I]f the complaint or other pleadings are abusive or contain offensive language, they may be stricken sua sponte under the inherent powers of the court.”); Talbot, 961 F.2d at 665 (district court did not abuse its discretion in striking paragraphs in a complaint that insinuated defendants knowingly caused a salmonella outbreak where there was no factual basis for such assertions); Alvarado-Morales v. Digital Equipment Corp., 843 F.2d 613, 617-18 (1st Cir.1988) (district court did not abuse its discretion in striking provisions of a complaint that used phrases like “concentration camp,” “brainwash,” “torture,” and “Chinese communists in Korea” to describe a work environment).

Though this Court is skeptical of the actual value of the documents that buttress Thompson’s claims in paragraphs 125 and 126, Hartford’s Motion to Strike is not proper. It is clear that the statements are not scandalous or impertinent. The statements made in each paragraph are supported by documents that Hartford created.

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270 F.R.D. 277, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 108736, 2010 WL 3992302, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/thompson-v-hartford-life-accident-insurance-kywd-2010.