Pursuant to 5 T H C IR . R. 47.5, the court has determin ed that thi s opinio n should not * be publishe d an d is not precede nt except under the limit ed circu mstance s set forth in 5 T H C IR . R. 47.5 .4. 

### INTHE UNI TED S TATESCOU RT OFAPPEALS

FORTHE FIFTH CIRCU IT

N o. 09- 31022 S u m m ary C al en da r
W IL L IA M O . S C A L L IO N , J R
. , P la in tiff

–A p p e lla n t, v. H A R T F O R D L IF E & A C C ID E N T IN S U R A N C E C O ., D e fe n d a n t–A p p e lle e .

A pp ealf

rom t h e U n i t ed S t ates D i st ri ctC ou rt f o rt he W e s t e r n Di s t r i c to f Lo ui s i ana U SD C N o. 1: 08- C V

- 2001
Be f o r e GARZ A, CL EM ENT, a n d OW EN , C ir c u it J u d g e s . P E R C U R I A M: * W i l l i am Scall i on app ea ls f rom t h e di st ri ctcourt ’ s grant of sum m ary ju d g m e n t in fa v o r o f H a rtfo rd L ife a n d A cc id e n t In su ra n ce C o m p a n y(H a rtfo rd ). F o rt h e f

o l l o w i n gr e a s o n s , w e a f f i r m. United States Court of App eals Fifth Circuit 

### F I L E D April 23, 2010 Lyle W . Cayce Clerk Case: 09-31022 Document: 00511090097 Page: 1 Date Filed: 04/23/2010N o. 09- 31022

Threadgill v. P

rudent ial Sec. Grou

p, I nc. , 1 4 5F .3 d 2 8 6 , 2 9 2 ( 5 thC ir
. 1 9 9 8). 1 Bru mfield v. Hollins , 5 5 1 F .3 d 3 2 2 , 3 2 6( 5 thC ir
. 2 0 0 8). 2 See Coo

per v. Hewlett -Packard Co. , 5 9 2 F .3 d 6 4 5 , 6 5 1 -5 2 ( 5 thC ir
. 2 0 0 9). 3 2 I S c a l l i o n s u s ta in e d a n inju r yto h is le ft e y e w h e n it w a s a c c id e n ta lly l a c e r a t e d wi t h a m e t a lo b j e c t
. He f i l e d f o rd i s a b i l i t yb e n e f

i t s u n d e rt wo ac c i dent aldeat h and di sm em ber m entpol i c i es — one i ss ued by H ar t f or d t hro ugh t he A FL

- C I O and anot heri ss ued by H ar t f ord th rough C i t y Ban k. The pl an i ssued by H art f

ord t h rough t h e A F L

- C IO i s governe d by the E m pl oyee R e tir e m e n t I n c o m e S e c u r ity A c t o f 1 9 7 4 (E R IS A), 2 9 U .S .C . § 1 0 0 1 , etse q . , a nd give s H ar t f

o r d f ul ldi s c r e t i o n ary au t h or i t y t o c o ns t r ue t he t e r m s o f t he pl an. H art f ord den i ed ben ef

i t s un der both pl an s on t h e groun d that Scal l i on ’ s vi si on l oss w as not i rrec overable. Scal l ion s u ed, an d the di st ri ctcourtgran t ed
su m m a ryj u d gm en t i n fa vo r of H a rtf ord as to it s d en i a lof b en efi ts u n d er b oth p o lic ie s . II W e r e vi e w t he g r anto f a m o t i o n f

o rs um m ar y j udg m e ntde no vo , a ppl yi ng t h e sam e st an da rd as t h e di st ri ct court. W i t h regard to S cal l i on ’ s c l ai m un der 1 t he Ci t y Bank p l an, s um m ar y j u dg m en ti s a ppr o pr i at e w he n t he c o m pe t e nt
sum m ary j u dg m en tevi den ce dem on st rat es t h at t h ere are n o gen u i n e i ssues of
ma t e r i a lfa c ta n d t h e mo v i n gp a r t yi s e n t i t l e d t o j u d g me n ta s a ma t t e ro f l a w. 2 A s t o the E R ISA

- govern ed pl an , b ecau se the pl an g i ves H art f ord di scr et i on ary aut ho r i t y t o c o ns t r ue i t s t e r m s , w e re vi e w H ar t f o r d’ s deni alof

be ne f i t s unde rt he pl an f orabus e o f

di sc r et i on. Bu ts i nce H ar t f or d w as bo t h t he pl an 3 Case: 09-31022 Document: 00511090097 Page: 2 Date Filed: 04/23/2010N o. 09- 31022

Coo k C hildren’s Med. Ctr. v. Ne w En glan d PPO Planof Gen. C onso l. Mgmt., Inc. , 49 1 4 F .3 d 2 6 6 , 2 7 2 ( 5 thC ir
. 2 0 0 7) (intern al qu ot ationmark s o mitt ed). See, e.g. , F

ai rleyv . Pru den t ia l I

ns. C o. of Am. , 40F .3d 3 85, 199 4 WL 652 577 , at*3 5 (5 thCir. 1 9 9 4) (unpub li sh edt ab led ecis io n); Rice v. MilitarySales &Serv. C o. , 621 F.2 d 83 , 8 7( 4 thC ir
. 1 9 8 0); Wa llace v. I ns. C o. of N. A m. , 4 1 5F .2 d 5 4 2 , 5 4 5( 6 thC ir
. 1 9 6 9); Ho meL if e Ins. C o. of N.Y. v. Ste wart , 1 1 4F .2 d 5 1 6 , 5 1 8 -1 9( 1 0 thC ir
. 1 9 4 0). 3 ad m i n i st rat or an d t h e i n surer, w e revi ew i t s deci si on w i t h “ a m odi cu m les s d e fe r e n c e th a n w e o th e r w is e w o u ld .” 4 B ot h pl an s provi de d i sm em berm en tben ef i t s onl y u pon l oss and def i n e l oss w i t h regard t o si gh tas an “enti re and i rrec overable l oss th e re o f. ” H art f ord determ i n ed that S cal l i on h ad n otsu f fered an ir recover able l oss of si gh tb ased on i nf or m at i on pro vid ed by D r . N i l s M ungan , Scal l i on’ s t r eat i ng physi c i an, t hat S c a llion ’ s si gh t w a s reco v e r a b le th r o u g h a co r n e a l tr a n s p la n t. M u n g a n s im ila r ly t es t i f i ed i n hi s depos i t i on t hatScal l i on’ s vi si on c oul d be r egai ned t hro ugh surgery, an d the di st ri ct cou rtrel i ed on t h i s evi den ce i n gran t i n g sum m ary ju d g m e n t fo rH a r tfo r d o n S c a llio n ’ s cla im u n d e rth e C ity B a n k p la n . S ca l l i on arg u es th a t th e con tract i s am b i gu ou s an d tha t H a rtf ord fa i l ed to pr o duc e s ubs t a n t i a le v i d e n c e t h athi s s i ghtc o ul d b e r e ga i ne d. N e i t he ra r gum e nt has m e r i t
. The c o nt r act stat es tha tt he l o s s o f s i ghtm us tb e “ e nt i r e a nd i rrec overable. ”

The t e r m “ i r r e c o ve r ab l e ” i s una m bi guo us . Thi s c i r c u i t a n d a
num berof oth erc our t s have c onc l uded t hats i ghti s r ec ove r abl e i f i tm ay be regai n ed throug h surgery or ot h er art i f i ci al m ean s. F u rt h er, al l of t h e evi den ce 5 in th e a d m in is t r a t iv e r e co rd a n d th e d is t r ic tc o u r tr e c o r d s u g g e s t s th a tS c a ll io n ’s si gh tcoul d be recovered t h rou gh surgery. A ccor di n gl y, t h e di st ri ctcourt
corr ect l y concl u ded t h at H art f ord di d n otabu se i t s di scr et i on i n den yi n g S cal l i on ben ef i t s un der t h e A F L

- C IO pl an an d that H a rtford w as enti t l ed to sum m ary ju d g m e n t o n S c a llio n ’ s cla im u n d e rth e C ityB a n k p la n . Case: 09-31022 Document: 00511090097 Page: 3 Date Filed: 04/23/2010N o. 09- 31022

4 * * * F o rt h e f

o r e g o i n gr e a s o n s , t h e d i s t r i c tc o u r t ’ s j u d g me n ti s A F F I RMED. Case: 09-31022 Document: 00511090097 Page: 4 Date Filed: 04/23/2010