Insurer’s bid to use videotape to halt disability benefits finds no takers

Workplace Issues

By Mark D. DeBofsky

Mark D. DeBofsky is a name partner of DeBofsky, Sherman & Casciari P.C. He handles civil and appellate litigation involving employee benefits, disability insurance and other insurance claims and coverage, and Social Security law. He can be reached at mdebofsky@debofsky.com.

Posted January 8, 2019 4:12 PM

Surveillance may sometimes be a useful tool in detecting potential insurance fraud. In a recent California case, however, video surveillance obtained by a disability insurer was insufficient to convince a judge that it correctly decided to terminate an insured’s benefit payments.The case of Fleming v. Unum Life Insurance Company of America, 2018 WL 6133859 (C.D. Calif., Nov. 20, 2017), was brought by Pamela Fleming, a former litigator who suffered severe spinal injuries in a 1998 car accident that left her unable to …

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