Immunocompromised Doctor Wins Disability Pay for Pandemic Risk

Unum Life Insurance Co. must pay disability benefits to an immunocompromised anesthesiologist who stopped working during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The anesthesiologist’s job put him at very high risk for exposure to Covid, and his underlying medical condition of chronic lymphocytic leukemia put him at high risk for severe illness if he were to contract the virus, Judge Loretta C. Biggs said after a one-day trial. He’s therefore entitled to long-term disability benefits under his policy from Unum, Biggs said Thursday for the US District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina.

Several disability insurers have ...