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Cook v. Liberty Life, US.FEDERAL.ca1 (2003)

United States Court of Appeals

For the First Circuit

No. 02-1656

KATHLEEN COOK,

Plaintiff, Appellee,

v.

LIBERTY LIFE ASSURANCE COMPANY OF BOSTON,

Defendant, Appellant.

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

[Hon. Paul J. Barbadoro, U.S. District Judge]

Before Boudin, Chief Judge,

Torruella and Lipez, Circuit Judges.

William D. Pandolph, with whom Sulloway & Hollis, P.L.L.C. was on brief for appellant.

Glenn R. Milner, with whom Cook & Molan, P.A. was on brief for appellee.

February 5, 2003

LIPEZ, Circuit Judge. Liberty Life Assurance Company ("Liberty") appeals from the district court's entry of summary judgment for Kathleen Cook, a former participant in one of its long-term disability insurance plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. § 1001 et seq. (2002). Cook had been receiving disability benefits for more than three years when Liberty terminated her benefits on the ground that she no longer met the plan's definition of "disabled." The district court found that Liberty's decision was "arbitrary and capricious." Agreeing with that conclusion, we affirm the court's grant of summary judgment to Cook. We also affirm the district court's award of back benefits and accompanying relief, finding that such an award was within its discretion.

I.

A. Cook's Illness and Her Eligibility for Benefits

Kathleen Cook had been employed with Lockheed Sanders, Inc. ("Sanders") since 1983. Sanders provides its employees with short- and long-term disability benefits under policies provided and administered by Liberty. Cook filed a claim for short-term disability benefits in February 1995, having been out of work since November 1994 with symptoms of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome ("CFS"), as diagnosed by her treating physician, Dr. W. Stewart Blackwood. (1) Dr. Blackwood's notes from that period report that Cook was complaining of fatigue, loss of appetite, a constant cough, and depression. Diagnostic tests revealed an el...

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