Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
No. 16-1307
DEBRA TROIANO,
Plaintiff, Appellant,
v.
Defendants, Appellees.
Before
about whether the Social Security income may offset the disability
I.
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which was funded and administered by defendant Aetna Life Insurance
Company ("Aetna").
set forth in four relevant documents: (1) the Group Policy, which
contains general terms and conditions governing the Plan; (2) the
Booklet, which describes the group coverage plan; and (4) the
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similarly expansive way, assigning Aetna the "absolute authority
benefit payable under th[e] Plan for that month will be the lesser
of: the Scheduled Monthly LTD Benefit; and the Maximum Monthly
are "the gross monthly pay paid to you by the Company for
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payments will not be reduced by any cost-of-living increases in
The SPD expressly states that, under this example, Tom's monthly
who choose the buy-up level must pay the premium for the additional
10% of coverage. The SPD explains that the "cost for the
[her own] cost and the Company contributions," the SPD assures
that "the LTD Plan benefit will not be subject to income tax."
Plan benefits. From December 2003, when Aetna approved her claim,
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until April 2010, when Aetna began offsetting her monthly LTD
had already applied for SSDI benefits in June 2004. After years
Security Act, since July 12, 2003. An award letter from the Social
COLAs had risen to $2,131, which was $348 more than the $1,783
receive a lump-sum payment for the amount that had been due to her
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In a letter dated April 16, 2010, Aetna informed Troiano
that under the provisions of the Plan, her LTD benefits were
the relevant Plan provisions, the letter announced that Aetna would
Aetna also demanded, and has since received from Troiano, full
her LTD benefits by the net, rather than the gross, amount of her
pay federal and state income taxes on her SSDI benefits. Following
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and not the net amount. To adjust the SSDI offset, according to
taxation."
to apply a gross offset and dated May 25, 2012, this letter
Troiano also requested in the letter that Aetna turn over numerous
in-house legal team discussed this May 2012 letter, Aetna never
II.
and GDC in the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode
Island. She alleged that Aetna had breached its fiduciary duty
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and sought a declaration "that her past and future LTD benefits
should be offset against the SSDI benefits she was awarded minus
any income taxes she was assessed on such benefits." (We do not
56(d). The district court denied the motion from the bench.
[wa]s the exception" in ERISA cases and thus that Troiano faced a
court ultimately ruled that Troiano had failed to meet this burden
Insurance Co. v. Glenn, 554 U.S. 105 (2008). The court found that
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Troiano's case was not a "denial of benefits," as explained below,
benefits. It noted first that "this case [wa]s not about the
from "regular COLA increases which, under the terms of the Plan,
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whether she has a home. [I]t's all going to be determined by
2015).
argument that de novo review should apply. The court instead held
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that the offset includes a calculation of any income tax liability
the recipient may incur." Id. Finally, the court credited Aetna's
Plan interpretation.
III.
(1st Cir. 2016). "We may affirm the district court's decision on
that de novo review should apply. See Firestone Tire & Rubber Co.
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v. Bruch, 489 U.S. 101, 115 (1989). Although she acknowledges
deference even under Firestone, see id., she argues that Aetna
25, 2012 "appeal" letter. See Bard v. Bos. Shipping Ass'n, 471
F.3d 229, 230, 240 (1st Cir. 2006). Aetna responds by reiterating
appeal within the Plan's 180-day deadline and thus did not forfeit
Mass. HMO Blue, Inc., 813 F.3d 420, 42526 (1st Cir. 2016)
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(requiring showing of prejudice); Terry v. Bayer Corp., 145 F.3d
payable for a given month: The monthly benefit payable under this
Plan for that month will be the lesser of: the Scheduled Monthly
LTD Benefit[] and the Maximum Monthly Benefit; minus all other
income benefits, but not less than the Minimum Monthly Benefit."
offset is the full SSDI amount that is payable to Troiano or, put
another way, that Troiano was eligible to receive from the Social
-- that she could have to pay on that sum. Accordingly, the plain
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language of the Plan -- which allows for offsets by other income
for which she is eligible, rather than by the amount left over
after she has paid whatever income tax she owes to federal and
state governments.2
Life Ins. Co., 368 F.3d 999, 1005 (8th Cir. 2004) (where an LTD
offset its LTD payments by the gross SSDI amount because the
further confirms that the Plan allows for a gross offset. In the
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same section that defines "other income benefits" to include Social
For instance, only "50% of any award provided under The Jones Act
for which [one is] or may become eligible under a group pension
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$1,800 Tom's unreduced LTD benefit (60% of $3,000)
- $600 Social Security benefit
_________________________________________________
$1,200 Tom's monthly LTD benefit
This example does not mention taxes in any way. Rather, it states
for which she was eligible, without any exploration into her tax
must offset by the net amount of her SSDI benefits -- would require
and audit tax documents year after year, for beneficiary after
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perhaps, affect its actuarial accounting.3 We find it implausible
taxation."
Plan would violate its own guarantee that her "Scheduled Monthly
earnings."
does the SPD state that "other income benefits" themselves will
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not be subject to tax. If anything, the SPD suggests the opposite
benefits.'" The Plan does not state that these other income
but that canon does not salvage her losing claim. Contra
Stamp v. Metro. Life Ins. Co., 531 F.3d 84, 93 (1st Cir. 2008).
But the canon applies only where the Plan language is ambiguous.
See, e.g., Seaco Ins. Co. v. Davis-Irish, 300 F.3d 84, 86 (1st
that language appears, the sample SSDI offset provided in the SPD,
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and the administrative consequences of a net-offset system lead us
liabilities.
B. Denial of Discovery
did not meet her threshold burden of showing that Aetna's purported
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discovery issue, Cusson v. Liberty Life Assur. Co. of Bos., 592
Plan, 136 S. Ct. 651 (2016). The beneficiary thus bears the burden
Great Atl. & Pac. Tea Co., 871 F.2d 179, 186 (1st Cir. 1989)
(quoting In re Recticel Foam Corp., 859 F.2d 1000, 1006 (1st Cir.
738, 743 (1st Cir. 2014). Especially in the ERISA context, where
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693, 698 (1st Cir. 2007), the party seeking discovery must provide
had not satisfied this heavy burden. Mack, 871 F.2d at 186. At
the May 2015 motions hearing, the court noted that Troiano had
decision.
IV.
for through her monthly LTD benefits that are offset by the gross
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