Morgan v. Unum Life Ins. Co. of America, 02-3541.
| Decision Date | 22 October 2003 |
| Docket Number | No. 02-3541.,02-3541. |
| Citation | 346 F.3d 1173 |
| Parties | Robert A. MORGAN, Appellee, v. UNUM LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY OF AMERICA, Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
Terrance J. Wagener, argued, Bloomington, MN (John Harper III, on the brief), for appellant.
Denise Y. Tataryn, argued, Minneapolis, MN, for appellee.
Before MORRIS SHEPPARD ARNOLD and HANSEN, Circuit Judges, and READE, District Judge.1
This is a case arising under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). UNUM Life Insurance Company of America, the insurer and plan administrator, initially awarded long-term disability benefits to Robert A. Morgan on account of his fibromyalgia and insomnia. However, after conducting surveillance of Morgan's activities the following year, UNUM terminated his benefits. Morgan exhausted his administrative remedies and then filed suit.
The district court2 granted Morgan's motion for summary judgment and denied UNUM's motion for summary judgment. The court reinstated Morgan's disability benefits, awarded him past-due benefits with accrued prejudgment interest, and awarded him costs and attorney fees. UNUM now appeals. For the reasons discussed below, we affirm the judgment of the district court.
Morgan holds a Ph.D. in optical sciences. In April 1994, after he had worked in that field for approximately six years, the Honeywell Technology Center hired him as a Senior Principal Research Scientist in its Photonics Section. During his employment with Honeywell, Morgan was diagnosed with insomnia and fibromyalgia, which impaired his ability to do his job. At various times, Honeywell attempted to accommodate Morgan by placing him on medical leave, reducing his hours, and reducing his duties, but these accommodations were unsuccessful. Morgan stopped working in March 1999 and applied for long-term disability benefits. After an investigation, UNUM agreed in December 1999 that he had become disabled in March and awarded benefits. As part of the investigation, UNUM questioned three doctors who had treated Morgan, Dr. William Tiede, Dr. Samuel Yue, and Dr. Carole Selin, and examined their treatment records. Also, a UNUM benefits specialist interviewed Morgan by telephone, and a UNUM field agent visited him at home.
Dr. Tiede was Morgan's primary-care physician, who treated him continuously beginning in December 1995. Morgan complained of difficulty sleeping at night which significantly impaired his cognitive abilities during the day. Sleep studies confirmed that Morgan had considerable difficulty falling asleep, woke up often during the night, and experienced a poor quality of sleep. Dr. Tiede diagnosed Morgan with chronic and acute insomnia. Morgan also complained of general achiness and severe pains in his neck, back, and joints that contributed to his sleeplessness. Dr. Tiede diagnosed Morgan with fibromyalgia after performing a tender-point test and referred him to Dr. Yue, a pain-management specialist, in April 1998. Dr. Yue confirmed the diagnosis of fibromyalgia by performing a tender-point test and treated Morgan through March 2000. Dr. Yue eventually directed Morgan to stop working because his fatigue and pain made him unable to do his job. Dr. Yue also directed Morgan not to engage in repetitive activity, lift more than twenty pounds, or stay in one position for more than thirty minutes.
While he was under Dr. Tiede's and Dr. Yue's care, Morgan's treatments for his insomnia and fibromyalgia included varying dosages of many different medications, referrals to specialists, dietary restrictions, biofeedback sessions, meditation, light exercise, and participation in an investigational new drug study. None of these treatments satisfactorily resolved Morgan's conditions.
Dr. Selin was a psychologist who treated Morgan for a brief period from January through April 1999. Initially, she agreed that he was suffering from pain disorder associated with fibromyalgia, and she submitted a letter to Honeywell in February stating that Morgan would be unable to work more than two days per week for the next three months. However, Morgan's relationship with Dr. Selin deteriorated and became antagonistic over time. After Morgan stopped seeing Dr. Selin, she advised Dr. Yue that she thought Morgan was dependent on and overusing sedatives. She also opined that she did not believe Morgan was disabled, and that in her view, he was exaggerating his conditions in order to get disability benefits and be able to move out-of-state to live with his teenage daughters.
When a UNUM medical specialist asked Dr. Yue about Dr. Selin's opinion during a telephone conversation, Dr. Yue discounted her opinion, attributing it to a "personality clash" with Morgan.
In Morgan's telephone interview by a UNUM benefits specialist, he described a typical day's activities as including stretching, exercising at a gym for about forty-five minutes, light reading while seated in a chair, and driving his car to run errands. During Morgan's in-person interview by a UNUM field agent, the agent observed him drive his car and sit in a recliner for about an hour. Morgan told the agent that he spent some time each day doing light reading and sitting on his patio. Morgan advised the agent that, per his doctor's advice, he stretched and did light aerobic exercise at a gym. Morgan said that he was able to ride a stationary bicycle, lift light objects, and walk a mile.
After this investigation, UNUM awarded Morgan long-term disability benefits in December 1999, concluding that he had become disabled in March 1999. Morgan also applied for and received Social Security Disability Insurance benefits.
Twice in 2000, UNUM hired an investigator to conduct surveillance of Morgan. At various times during a four-day period in April 2000, the investigator saw him drive and refuel his car, eat lunch at a restaurant, go to the bank and the gym, and carry newspapers and a recycling bin of unknown weight to the end of the driveway at his home. At various times during a three-day period in June 2000, the investigator saw him drive and refuel his car, sit on his patio and read, and stretch and exercise at the gym. Morgan's approximately forty-five minutes of exercise included using a "walking machine" and a "stair stepping machine," riding a stationary bike, and doing sit-ups. The investigator reported that during the two surveillance periods, he saw Morgan bend at the waist, carry various objects (his gym bag, the recycling bin with unknown contents, the newspapers, and a lawn chair) and set up the lawn chair on the patio.
UNUM sent Morgan's file to Dr. Steven Feagin, an in-house physician, for...
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