What gets me up early in the morning and keeps me at the office long after my husband, Cecil, expects me home for dinner, is the ultimate joy when our legal team scores a victory for our clients. Why? Because we know we’ve made a big difference in their lives.
Take our recent battle – and win – for a local CT technologist suffering from Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue whose insurance company denied her disability. We’ll call our client ‘Jane Doe’ because that’s the name lawyers call clients whose identity they want to protect.
If you’ve ever had a CAT scan, you have met a ‘Jane Doe’. She’s the medical professional who calms your fears while positioning your body ‘just right’ into the CT scan allowing your doctor to give you a better diagnosis. Her work demands a lot of physical engagement and being ready to quickly respond to an emergency. It’s heavy lifting.
Our ‘Jane Doe’ filed for disability with Unum, her employer’s insurance company, when she could no longer work because of the pain and exhaustion caused by Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue. Unum denied Jane her benefits claiming an earlier work-related rotator cuff injury – not her rheumatology conditions – prevented her from performing her job.
Lucky for Jane, she called a disability attorney – me – for help with her denial and we filed an appeal to Unum.
Our appeal included information from Jane’s workers’ compensation attorney, along with a deposition from her orthopedic surgeon testifying that her earlier work-related rotator cuff injury was not the reason Jane couldn’t perform her job. Her doctor confirmed that her primary conditions of Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue were responsible for her inability to continue working as a CT technologist.
Less than a month after filing Jane’s appeal, Unum reversed their decision, granting benefits to our client. CASE CLOSED.
