Reliance Loses Disability Suit; 8th Cir. Weighs ERISA Process

Reliance Standard Life Insurance Co. on Tuesday lost a lawsuit by a maintenance supervisor seeking disability benefits on account of his lower back pain, according to an Eighth Circuit opinion considering the proper judicial procedure for deciding ERISA benefit cases.

The district judge who ruled for Michael Avenoso in his Employee Retirement Income Security Act lawsuit didn’t commit a clear error when she concluded that Avenoso wasn’t capable of working a sedentary job and could therefore receive disability benefits from Reliance, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled.

However, the judge mishandled Avenoso’s case by weighing the ...