Kathleen Semien v. Life Insurance Company of North America, a Cigna Company, and Bp Long Term Disability (Ltd) Plan

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• holding that similar discretion-granting language within a plan document was sufficient to confer discretion
• designating the insurer as a fiduciary because it had discretionaryauthority overthe plan’s administration
• court may not second-guess plan’s reliance on consulting physicians in absence of bias or “inherent flaw[s]”
• “[W]e need not reach the question of whether an implied delegation of authority would be sufficient to shift discretionary authority from the original plan administrator to insurer.”
• “[T]o lower the level of judicial review from de novo to arbitrary and capricious, the plan should clearly and unequivocally state that it grants discretionary authority to the administrator.”
• the “arbitrary and capricious standard is the least demanding form of judicial review of administrative action, and any questions of judgment are left to the administrator of the plan.” (emphasis added and quotation marks omitted)

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).