Gloria Archuleta worked as a Customer Service Representative, for Hub Industries. Her job required constant sitting. Ms. Archuleta began to experience severe pain and sudden attacks on her right side, which rendered it impossible for her to sit for more than brief periods. Ms. Archuleta underwent surgery and was subsequently prescribed strong pain medication to alleviate her continuing pain. Ms. Archuleta’s doctors consistently supported her disability and advised the insurer that the plaintiff’s ability to perform her job was impaired by not only her pain but her strong pain medication. The trial court held, in a published opinion, that Reliance Standard acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner when it terminated the benefits. The insurer ignored Ms. Archuleta’s reports of pain and failed to investigate or consider the side effects of her pain medication. Archuleta v. Reliance Standard Life Ins. Co ., 504 F.Supp2d 876 (C.D., Cal, 2007).
