MIAMI – A former TrustBridge Inc. employee has filed suit to recover short-term disability benefits she alleges were wrongfully terminated.
Ellen Ferrick filed a complaint on April 18 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida against Life Insurance Co. of North America alleging that the payer of benefits violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that she has been disabled since June 2014 and initially received short-term disability benefits from the defendant. She alleges that the defendant terminated her benefits that September. The plaintiff holds Life Insurance Co. of North America responsible because the defendant allegedly wrongfully terminated her claim for short-term disability benefits and has refused to pay both short and long-term disability benefits, failed to provide a prompt and reasonable explanation of the basis for the termination of her claim for benefits and failed to properly and adequately investigate the merits of her disability claim.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks an order declaring that she is entitled to immediate reinstatement to the policy, all costs and attorneys’ fees, prejudgment and post-judgment interest and such other and further relief as the court may deem just and proper. She is represented by Alexander A. Palamara and Gregory Michael Dell of Attorneys Dell & Schaefer Chartered in Hollywood.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida Case number 0:16-cv-60855