INSUREDS ACCUSE UNUM OF VIOLATING INJUNCTION

Two California policyholders have accused US disability insurer UnumProvident of violating a federal judge’s late-2002 injunction that barred the company from using biased medical examiners and destroying medical reports in an effort to deny benefits to insureds. The complaint, which seeks to have Unum found in contempt of court, said that the company cut off their benefits and denied appeals even though the insureds’ physicians found them unfit to work. The pair’s ability to sue Unum for bad faith is restricted by the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) because the two received disability cover through their employers. The complaint also asks the court to reopen all ERISA-related claims that Unum has rejected since the judge issued the injunction last November.