Opinion ID: 203152
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Second Summary Judgment Motion

Text: Following the district court's first ruling and a period of discovery, the parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment on Hartford's decision to deny coverage. We review the summary judgment ruling de novo, Kansky v. Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of New England, 492 F.3d 54, 57 (1st Cir.2007), and Hartford's determination under an abuse of discretion standard. [9] Under this deferential review, the decision is upheld as long as it is reasoned and supported by substantial evidence. Wright v. R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. Group Benefits Plan, 402 F.3d 67, 74 (1st Cir.2005). More specifically, we explained in Wright that evidence is substantial when it is reasonably sufficient to support a conclusion. Id. Desrosiers asserts two specific instances in which Hartford allegedly abused its discretion. [10] First, she claims that Hartford violated its own internal claims procedures when it failed to obtain Desrosiers's job description prior to issuing its benefit denial. Such failure is critical, Desrosiers claims, because the policy's definition of disability is expressed in terms of the claimant's ability to perform the essential duties of her occupation. She argues that Hartford's alleged procedural transgression alone constitutes an abuse of discretion warranting reversal. We need not, however, decide whether a procedural failure such as alleged here would, standing alone, constitute an abuse of discretion, as the record demonstrates that Hartford did, in fact, list Desrosiers's job description as part of the information it considered in making its final decision. While Desrosiers accurately points out that Hartford did not receive the job description until it was considering her appeal, as opposed to during the pendency of the original claim, we do not find this timing issue dispositive. We faced a similar situation in Wright, where we rejected a claimant's argument that Hartford's failure to consider his job description until the appeal process constituted an abuse of discretion. Wright, 402 F.3d at 77-78. Desrosiers's second argument fares no better. She asserts that Hartford impermissibly insisted that she provide objective evidence to support her disability claim. In Boardman v. Prudential Ins. Co. of America, 337 F.3d 9 (1st Cir.2003), we found it impermissible to require objective evidence to support claims based on medical conditions that do not lend themselves to objective verification, such as fibromyalgia. Id. at 17. But we also made clear that it is permissible to require objective support that a claimant is unable to work as a result of such conditions. Id. Here, although Hartford's claim denials made reference to a lack of objective findings, it did so in conjunction with particular diagnosese.g., lumbar disk herniationwhich do lend themselves to objective verification. To the extent Hartford otherwise referred to objective evidence, it did so in the context of Desrosiers's claim that she was unable to work. As Hartford did not improperly rely on a lack of objective evidence, we do not find that it abused its discretion when it denied Desrosiers's claim. Affirmed.