Hartford Beats Disability Pay Suit by Man Seen Lifting Weights

Hartford Life & Accident Insurance Co. properly terminated a customer service engineer’s long-term disability benefits after reviewing surveillance footage showing him lifting weights at the gym.

The insurer didn’t abuse its discretion in concluding that the plaintiff’s physical and mental limitations no longer prevented him from performing work that would pay him at least 80% of his pre-disability salary, Judge Brendan A. Hurson said in a Monday opinion. Hartford’s medical experts appropriately weighed the plaintiff’s subjective complaints of pain against “conflicting information” suggesting he had the capacity to work, said Hurson, who sits in the US District Court for ...