Jane Doe v. Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Inc. and the Harvard Pilgrim PPO Plan MA Group Policy # 0588660000
Year 2018
Court U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
Case Number 17-2078
Issue
  • ERISA
State
  • Massachusetts

This amicus brief addresses the ERISA fiduciary’s duty under the ERISA statute and Secretary of Labor regulations to afford full and fair review when a fiduciary denies a benefit claim This duty requires a fiduciary to help secure “readily available material evidence of which it was put on notice,” which is necessary for the fiduciary to review in order to comply with 29 U.S.C. § 1133(b). Harrison v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 773 F.3d 15, 20 (4th Cir.2014). This is in accord with the collaborative process expected by fiduciaries in this Circuit. Glista v. Unum Life Ins. Co. of America, 378 F.3d 113, 129 (1st Cir. 2004).