Charles Wetzel v. Lou Ehlers Cadillac Group Long Term Disability Insurance Program Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company

Opinion by Judge WIGGINS; Dissent by Judge GRABER.

WIGGINS, Circuit Judge:

Charles Wetzel appeals from the district court’s summary judgment in favor of Defendants in Wetzel’s ERISA claim for long-term disability insurance benefits. The district court determined that Wet-zel’s claim was time-barred. In doing so, the district court fell prey to an ambiguity that resulted from our opinions in Nikaido *1162v. Centennial Life Insurance Co., 42 F.3d 557 (9th Cir.1994) and Williams v. UNUM Life Insurance Co. of America, 113 F.3d 1108 (9th Cir.1997). The district court’s order granting summary judgment in…