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This month’s Friday Five discusses cases that address the meaning of “active, full-time employee,” whether remand is required where an improper standard of review was applied, the standard for capacity in reference to a dispute between beneficiaries to a life insurance policy, a successful claim that a “change in condition” warranted termination of benefits and when extra-record discovery may be appropriate to interpret a claimant’s “own occupation.”
1. What does “active, full-time employee” mean? The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a district court’s decision, which found that Reliance improperly denied plaintiff’s claim for long-term disability benefits and ordered an award of benefits, attorney’s fees, and costs (instead of remanding). Notably, the merits below turned not on whether the plaintiff was disabled, but on whether he met the plan’s “active, Full-time Employee” requireme