Unum Cases California Jury Gives $31.7 Million Verdict Against UnumProvident A jury in San Rafael, Cal., on Thursday awarded $31.7 million to an eye surgeon who claimed UnumProvident cut his disability benefits because the Chattanooga-based firm was focused on profits. The judgment for ophthalmologist Randall Chapman of Novato, Cal., included $30 million in punitive damages. Trial of the case on a 2001 suit lasted three months. Dr. Chapman said UnumProvident purchased disability policies in the 1980s, but the firm later denied him $11,600 monthly benefits that he claimed he was entitled to. Dr. Chapman contended a phobia caused his hands to be unsteady so that he could no longer do eye surgeries. Doctors for UnumProvident disputed the claim and benefits were cut in September 2000 after he received three months of payments. HERE'S A MORE DETAILED STORY FROM THE AP UnumProvident plans to fight $31.7 million verdict ASSOCIATED PRESS - Bill Poovey Fri, Jan. 24, 2003 CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Disability insurer UnumProvident Corp., which is facing hundreds of lawsuits from policyholders and reviews from regulators in two states, said Friday it will challenge a California jury's $31.7 million damage verdict. "We obviously strongly disagree," said Tom White, a UnumProvident spokesman. He said the company would request a review of the verdict from the three-month trial and, if unsuccessful, appeal it. A jury on Thursday awarded the money, including $30 million in punitive damages, to Novato, Calif., eye surgeon Dr. Randall Chapman. It is believed to be one of the largest such verdicts handed down in Marin County, Calif., Superior Court. Insurance regulators in Tennessee and Georgia are reviewing policyholder complaints against UnumProvident, which is the nation's largest disability insurer. "It is their role to review companies," White said. "We fully cooperate in those reviews." A statement released by UnumProvident, which insures some 25 million people, said its "complaint rate is below the national average. Only 1.5 percent of the approximately 421,000 new disability claims filed last year were determined not to be disabled." Chapman sued in 2001 after UnumProvident refused to pay him a $11,600 monthly benefit that he sought under long-term disability policies purchased during the 1980s. Citing the opinions of his doctors, Chapman said a phobia had caused him to shake, making him unable to perform eye surgery. UnumProvident's internal doctors disagreed with the diagnosis, prompting the company to terminate his benefits in September 2000 after three months of payments. White said three of the 12 jurors did not support punitive damages, which are to punish wrongdoing. "The fact that there are different points of view, even among individual jurors, should serve to temper such a significant penalty," White said. Arnold R. Levinson, a San Francisco attorney representing Chapman, said the verdict "sends a clear and concise message that UnumProvident's quest to bolster its bottom line at the expense of its insureds will not be tolerated," said. Many of the lawsuits against UnumProvident involve doctors, lawyers and small business owners who bought policies that couldn't be canceled and had premiums that couldn't be raised. UnumProvident has dismissed the allegations as sour grapes that have been overblown by the media. A federal judge in San Francisco concluded in November that the company engaged in a wide range of questionable activity to avoid paying legitimate claims. U.S. Magistrate Judge James Larson criticized UnumProvident's business practices as he upheld a jury's $7.67 million penalty for mistreating former Berkeley chiropractor Joan Hangarter and ordered the company to "obey the law." In 2001, a federal court jury in Florida awarded $36.7 million to John Tedesco, a former ophthalmologist who said a UnumProvident-owned disability carrier refused to pay his benefits after he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and a herniated disk. In a September court filing, UnumProvident listed more than 2,500 policyholder lawsuits accusing it of fraud or breach of contract. The suits were filed from January 1997 to August 2002. UnumProvident was created by the 1999 merger of The Provident Companies, based in Chattanooga, where there are more than 2,217 employees and the Unum Corp. in Portland, Maine, where there are about 3,500 employees. Call The Bernstein Law Offices today at 1 (800) 313-0213 and find out if we can assist you with your case or if you would like to discuss this matter with an attorney, click the form below and someone from our office will contact you for a free phone consultation. You can also call us anytime to schedule an appointment. Click Here To Fill Out The Contact Form

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