Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Before
Barron, Circuit Judge,
Souter,* Associate Justice,
and Lipez, Circuit Judge.
Julie D. Farr, with whom Arthur J. Greif and GILBERT & GREIF,
P.A. were on brief, for appellant.
David C. Henderson, with whom Rebecca H. Gallup and Nutter
McClennen & Fish LLP were on brief, for appellees Janssen
Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson, and Reed Group.
Amanda A. Sonneborn, with whom Samuel M. Schwartz-Fenwick,
SEYFARTH SHAW LLP, Byrne Joseph Decker, and PIERCE ATWOOD LLP were
on brief, for appellee Prudential.
April 8, 2015
& Johnson, and Reed Group is their agent for responding to short
term disability claims under Janssen's self-funded plan.
The long
appeals.
Clark
then
brought
this
action
for
and
Reed,
and
under
the
Employee
Retirement
Income
The district
On July
and although the parties argue about it, the merits of her claim
and this appeal do not turn on the timing, because the district
court dismissed on the independent ground that Clark's complaint
failed to address the crucial plan condition that eligibility for
a disability benefit requires a minimum of seven consecutive days
-3-
district
court
relied
principally
on
the
following
She
Id. at 11.
Only if it
does will the language also answer the timing question, by the
provision that the benefit will be paid retroactively to the first
day of inability to work at the regular schedule.
Thus, timing and eligibility are both governed by the same
language.
-4-
And in
claim,
it
took
the
position
that
inability
to
work
scheduled hours meant absence from her work at Janssen, for which
at best July 29 could be counted the first day but with no further
days of countable absence accruing after she left.
We accordingly need go no further to reach the same conclusion
drawn by the district court, that Clark has failed to state a claim
for short term disability benefits as to Janssen, Johnson &
Johnson, and Reed.
-6-