Labor/Employment
Mar. 13, 2014
The importance of California's ban on discretion in ERISA plans
Simply put, discretionary clauses mean that the for-profit company responsible for paying benefits also decides whether it is going to pay benefits with few checks and balances in a court of law.
Michelle L. Roberts
Partner
Kantor & Kantor, LLP
Labor & Employment
1050 Marina Village Pkwy, Ste 105
Alameda , CA 94501
Email: mroberts@kantorlaw.net
UC Berkeley Boalt Hall
Kantor & Kantor is a California-based law firm that represents insureds in ERISA-governed disability, life, health, and pension claims.
To a plaintiff's attorney in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act case, litigating a disability claim where there is a discretionary clause in the employee benefit plan is like Spartacus, against all odds, entering the ring weaponless to battle a well-armed opponent. This commentator's romanticization of her legal practice is not without basis: Most ERISA disability cases are likely to be voluntarily dismissed or settled than resolved on the merits and consumers typically fare wors...
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