SAN FRANCISCO – A licensed physician alleges her insurer wrongfully denied disability benefits.
Dr. Linette Calvo filed a complaint on Dec. 14 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against Standard Insurance Co. alleging breach of insurance contract and other counts.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that on March 2, 2015, she underent a surgical reconstruction of her right foot and procedures on both calves to alleviate her foot condition and was advised by her physician not to return to work as an emergency room physician. Two days after, defendant approved her disability claim, the suit states, but denied any further benefits after June 2015 without any proper grounds for doing so and without engaging in a reasonable investigation of plaintiff’s claim. As a result, she alleges she suffered from financial injury and emotional distress, including anxiety, worry, fear and frustration.
The plaintiff holds Standard Insurance Co. responsible because the defendant allegedly denied liability for the benefits promised by the long-term disability coverage, failed to pursue a thorough, fair and objective investigation of plaintiff’s claim.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks judgment in her favor, punitive, general and special damages, past and future disability payments, attorneys’ fees, costs of suit, interest, and further relief as is appropriate under the law. She is represented by Guy O. Kornblum, Walter G. Crump and Nicholas J. Peterson of Kornblum, Cochran, Erickson & Harbison LLP in San Francisco.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California Case number 5:16-cv-07132