Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-3_05-cv-01191/USCOURTS-cand-3_05-cv-01191-3/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 791
Nature of Suit: Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)
Cause of Action: 28:1441 Petition for Removal

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United States District Court

For the Northern District of California

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United States District Court

For the Northern District of California

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

ELIZABETH FREI,

Plaintiff,

 v.

HARTFORD LIFE INSURANCE 

COMPANY,

Defendant. /

No. C-05-01191 EDL

ORDER REQUIRING FURTHER

BRIEFING

Defendant’s motion for summary judgment is under submission. The Court is considering

remanding this matter for the Plan Administrator to determine whether the limitations stated in Dr.

Lawrence Schlachter’s report (allowances for the ability to stand, sit, stretch and rest) in

combination with the evidence of Plaintiff’s pain, render Plaintiff unable to perform the essential

duties of her occupation. See, e.g., Saffle v. Sierra Pacific Power Co. Bargaining Unit Long Term

Disability Income Plan, 85 F.3d 455, 460-61 (9th Cir. 1996) (finding that plan administrator abused

its discretion “by erroneously factoring ‘accommodation’ into the criteria for total disability for

purposes of occupational disability benefits,” where the plan language at issue stated that a

participant was totally disabled if he “is completely unable to perform each and every duty of his

regular occupation” for a certain amount of time, and stating that “remand for reevaluation of the

merits of a claim is the correct course to follow when an ERISA plan administrator, with discretion

to apply a plan, has misconstrued the Plan and applied a wrong standard to a benefits

determination”). Accordingly, no later than March 3, 2006, the parties shall file simultaneous briefs

regarding remand. Briefs shall be no longer than five pages. 

Case 3:05-cv-01191-EDL Document 49 Filed 02/27/06 Page 1 of 2
United States District Court

For the Northern District of California

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The deadline for the parties to file their pretrial materials is extended to March 17, 2006. 

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: February 27, 2006 

ELIZABETH D. LAPORTE

United States Magistrate Judge

Case 3:05-cv-01191-EDL Document 49 Filed 02/27/06 Page 2 of 2