Unum Cases Proceed to the
Next Stage After Class
Certification Denied
The 6th Circuit denied the petition of Plaintiffs and the proposed class for a rehearing by the entire court. The case has now been sent back to the District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee for further proceedings. The case seeks additional reforms to Unum's claims practices and an injunction to stop the use of financial budgets and targets in the denial or termination of disability claims. Several motions are still pending in the District Court. It is anticipated that the several remaining cases will be sent back to their original venue for trial. The case on behalf of Quadrino Schwartz' clients will be tried in the Southern District of New York, where it was originally filed.
Class Certification Order
Reversed By Appeals Court
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit reversed the class certification order issued by Judge Collier in the District Court. The panel of three judges was split, with a visiting judge from the Northern District of Florida and a 6th Circuit judge in the majority, and a strong, 26-page dissenting opinion by Judge Clay of the 6th Circuit. The dissent agreed that class certification was proper, but he majority ruled otherwise. Plaintiffs and the proposed Class plan to move for a rehearing by the full panel of judges on the 6th Circuit.
Hearing Set for Class Certification in Appeals Court
Unum appealed the decision by the federal judge in Tennessee that granted class certification to thousands of disabled Americans. A federal appeals court in Cinncinnatti is set to hear arguments of the attorneys for both sides on September 19, 2008. The case will proceed as a class action if the appeals court affirms the decision of the Tennessee judge.
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Anatomy of the Unum Class Action: Persistence Pays Off
Now that Quadrino Schwartz has obtained class certification in a first-of-its-kind national class action against disability insurer UnumProvident (Unum), the firm looks back at the long and hard fought battle that has preceded this critical court ruling. When the case was filed -- 5 years ago -- Evan Schwartz and Richard Quadrino could hardly have predicted the course of events in their first-in-the-nation class action against UnumProvident, the disability industry giant. They knew this: the case was a serious and ground-breaking lawsuit tha
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