(DOWNLOAD) "Tolson V. Avondale Industries Inc." by Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals " Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Tolson V. Avondale Industries Inc.
- Author : Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals
- Release Date : January 03, 1998
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 62 KB
Description
In appealing from the district court's summary judgment that dismissed his claims for medical and long-term disability benefits under two ERISA *fn1 plans sponsored by his employer, Plaintiff-Appellant Gregory A. Tolson insists that the court erred in thus rejecting his claims for benefits and for breach of fiduciary duty as well as in assessing court costs against him. The thrust of Tolson's argument is that the costs of treatment for his depression should have been covered by the Avondale Industries, Inc. Shipyards Division Avondale Health Plan (the "AHP"), and that benefits for the disability that resulted from such depression should have been paid under the Avondale Industries, Inc. Shipyards Division Group Insurance Plan (the "GIP"). Tolson argues that, despite the express, unambiguous limitations on coverage of "mental and nervous conditions" by these plans, he should nevertheless be covered because his depression was secondary to or caused by his Hepatitis C or by the Interferon treatment for that condition and was therefore "unusual." More particularly, Tolson insists that the plan administrator for the AHP and the GIP (collectively, "the Plans") erred in its legal interpretation of the Plans' provisions and abused its discretion in denying Tolson benefits under the Plans. According to Tolson, this occurred when the administrator treated his depression as a mental or nervous condition or disorder instead of recognizing that the Hepatitis C/Interferon-caused depression fit a narrow exception that Tolson perceives this court to have recognized in Lynd v. Reliance Standard Life Insurance Co.. *fn2 Tolson reads some dicta in Lynd to forecast the possibility that some day there might be an unusual case in which treatment of a mental disorder is necessitated by, and disability is caused by, something other than the cause of most other kinds of debilitating depressive conditions. And, of course, Tolson asserts that his is that unusual case. Disagreeing with Tolson's reading of Lynd, we affirm the summary dismissal of Tolson's action and the taxing of costs to him.
 "Tolson V. Avondale Industries Inc." by Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals " Book PDF Kindle ePub Free){kind=link}