Lawyer With Heart Issue, Job Stress Wins Higher Disability Pay

A MITRE Corp. cybersecurity lawyer who successfully sued Reliance Standard Life Insurance Co. for disability benefits won a court order blocking the insurer from reducing these payments based on his Social Security benefits.

The lawyer’s Social Security benefits stem from his earnings and not his disability, Judge David J. Novak said Tuesday. That means they can’t be used to offset the amount of disability benefits he’s owed from Reliance, said Novak, who sits in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

The Social Security Administration provides multiple types of benefits, including earnings-related payments and those made on ...