Sullivan v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company et al

Filing 38

ORDER Determining Amount of Judgment. Signed by Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton on 8/19/2011. (hlk, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 8/19/2011)

1
2
3

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

4

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

5
6
7

CYNTHIA SULLIVAN,

8

Plaintiff,

9

ORDER DETERMINING AMOUNT
OF JUDGMENT

METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE
COMPANY, et al.,

11
For the Northern District of California

United States District Court

10

v.

No. C 09-03718 PJH

12

Defendants.
_______________________________/

13

Having considered the parties arguments raised in the joint brief re amount of

14

judgment for 24-month plan benefits, filed August 15, 2011, the court determines the

15

amount of judgment as follows.

16

Plaintiff concedes that the plan provides that MetLife may deduct from plaintiff’s

17

benefit the amount of other income benefits such as SSI benefits. Doc. no. 37 at 2-3.

18

Plaintiff objects to deducting her SSI benefits from the LTD benefit award on the ground

19

that “if MetLife had approved Ms. Sullivan’s claim for LTD benefits, as the Court ruled that it

20

should have, she would not have been eligible for SSI benefits because her $2,500 monthly

21

benefit would have exceeded SSI’s income and resource caps.” Doc. no. 37 at 3. The

22

court overrules plaintiff’s objection and deducts from the LTD benefit award the amount of

23

SSI benefits received by plaintiff during the LTD benefit period at issue, subject to the

24

following requirement: in the event that the Social Security Administration determines that

25

plaintiff owes a refund of the SSI benefits received during the LTD benefit period because

26

her LTD benefits issued by MetLife made her ineligible to receive SSI benefits, MetLife will

27

be responsible for payment of any refund of SSI benefits that plaintiff owes, up to the

28

amount deducted herein, as well as any penalty that may be assessed against plaintiff on

1

the basis of income ineligibility due to delayed payment of her LTD benefits. In the event

2

that any refund or penalty is so assessed against plaintiff, plaintiff shall notify MetLife to

3

arrange payment of the refund or penalty to the SSA.

4

The parties agree that plaintiff’s gross monthly benefit under the plan is $2,500, and

5

that plaintiff became entitled to LTD benefits on June 8, 2006, following the 26-week

6

elimination period, up to December 8, 2007. Deducting the amount of SSI benefits

7

received by plaintiff during the 24-month LTD period, as identified by MetLife, the court

8

calculates the net award of LTD benefits to be $39,771.07, as follows:

9
June 8, 2006 - June 30, 2006

(no SSI deduction)

$1,916.67

11
For the Northern District of California

United States District Court

10

July 1, 2006 - July 31, 2006

(no SSI deduction)

$2,500.00

12

August 1, 2006 - Dec 31, 2006

($2500 - $196) x 5 months

$11,520.00

13

January 1, 2007 - July 31, 2007

($2500 - $417) x 7 mo.

$14,581.00

14

August 1, 2007 - August 31, 2007

($2500 - $411)

$2,089.00

Sept 1, 2007 - Oct 31, 2007

($2500 - $203.34) x 2 mo.

$4,593.32

Nov 1, 2007 - Nov 30, 2007

($2500 - $415.34)

$2,084.66

Dec 1, 2007 - Dec 7, 2007

$69.49/day x 7 days

$486.42

15
16
17

Net LTD benefit award

$39,771.07

18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26

The court further determines that the appropriate rate of prejudgment interest is
prescribed by 28 U.S.C. § 1961. Grosz-Salomon v. Paul Revere Life Ins. Co., 237 F.3d
1154, 1164 (9th Cir. 2001). The rate of the weekly average 1-year constant maturity
Treasury yield for the week ending August 12, 2011, as published by the Board of
Governors of the Federal Reserve System, is 0.11%. Calculating the interest on the
amount of $39,771.07 compounded annually at a rate of 0.11% from December 8, 2007,
the court determines the amount of prejudgment interest up to the date of judgment to be
$161.93.

27
28
2

1

Dec 8, 2007 - Dec 7, 2008

$39,771.07 x 0.11%

$43.75

2

Dec 8, 2008 - Dec 7, 2009

$39,814.82 x 0.11%

$43.80

3

Dec 8, 2009 - Dec 7, 2010

$39,858.62 x 0.11%

$43.84

4

Dec 8, 2010 - Aug 19, 2011

$0.12/day x 254 days

$30.54

5

Total interest

$161.93

6
7

The court will therefore enter judgment in favor of plaintiff and against defendant in

8

the amount of $39,933.00.

9

IT IS SO ORDERED.

11
For the Northern District of California

United States District Court

10
Dated: August 19, 2011
______________________________
PHYLLIS J. HAMILTON
United States District Judge

12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
3