Bennett v. AMERICAN INTERN. LIFE ASSURANCE COMPANY OF NEW YORK

MEMORANDUM-DECISION & ORDER

McAVOY, Chief Judge.

I. BACKGROUND

This case concerns a dispute over benefits under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”), 29 U.S.C. § 1001 et seq. Specifically, the dispute involves the construction of the term “accident” in an accidental death insurance policy and arises from the death by asphyxiation of Plaintiffs husband. Defendant insurance company declined to pay the policy’s benefits after concluding that the death was not accidental.

Timothy J. Bennett was found dead in his hotel room in Gaithersburg, Maryland, on November 16, 1994. The cause of…