Accenture Defeats Benefits Appeal Over Worker’s Raw Oyster Death

Accenture LLP isn’t liable to the husband of an employee who died after eating raw oysters, because it’s not a proper defendant for claims seeking accidental death benefits, the Third Circuit ruled Wednesday.

Accenture delegated responsibility for deciding insurance claims to Prudential Insurance Co. of America, and there’s no evidence suggesting the professional services company retained any authority over these decisions, the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit said. It rejected Mark Justman’s claims for benefits under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and his claim for failing to provide relevant plan documents in an opinion that ...