SEATTLE -- A former Boeing Co. worker sued the aerospace company and Aetna Life Insurance on Tuesday over disability benefits denied when she presented evidence that she was unable to work.
The complaint filed in U.S. District Court contends Aetna's claim-handling practices systematically denied and terminated valid disability claims to increase company profits. Class-action status is sought for the complaint filed by lawyer Fred Langer.
The named plaintiff is Bonnie Biery, 53, of north suburban Shoreline, who said she became disabled in June 2001 after 15 years as a systems analyst with Boeing, but was denied disability benefits. She suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia, her lawyers said in a news release.
The proposed class would include Boeing employees denied disability benefits by Aetna since 1998.
"We really won't know the size of the class until Boeing and Aetna reveal how many people were denied," said attorney Mike Nelson, a partner in Nelson Tyler Langer, which filed the lawsuit. A ruling on the request for class-action status would likely take four to six months, he said.
Fred LeBarge, a spokesman for Hartford, Conn.-based Aetna Inc., said in a statement it is company policy "to review each disability claim based on its own merits and to make appropriate decisions based on the terms of the Boeing plan."
Chicago-based Boeing hadn't received a copy of the complaint and declined comment, spokesman Ken Mercer said.
The lawsuit seeks reopening of claims that were denied, reinstatement of disability benefits where appropriate, a change in Aetna's claims-handling practices and additional damages.
It contends Aetna mishandled short- and long-term disability claims by failing to adequately review them and by using a review procedure that purposely put disabled claimants at a disadvantage.
Boeing, the sponsor of short- and long-term disability benefits determined by Aetna, is named as a defendant "because of its willful or negligent participation in Aetna's wrongful denials of disability benefits," the release said.
Langer called the case "a wake-up call for Aetna, demanding that it give an account for its predatory dealings with policyholders."
The lawsuit contended Aetna failed to provide a full and fair review of disabled employees' claims, increased requirements for proving disability, failed to collect all relevant medical records and disregarded evaluations from Biery's doctors in favor of those by Aetna's paid claims reviewers.
Langer said Biery presented evidence from treating and independent doctors that attested to her inability to work, but Aetna denied the claim.
Her illnesses aren't work-related.
"This is not like workman's compensation," Nelson said. "It's an illness or condition that befell her."
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