Briggs v. Marriott International, Inc.

Robert Briggs commenced this action under § 502(a) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. § 1132(a), for long-term disability benefits under an employee benefit plan sponsored by his employer, Marriott International, Inc., and administered by Liberty Life Assurance Company of Boston. Beginning in September 2002, Liberty Life began paying Briggs short-term disability benefits based on Briggs’ chronic lower-back and leg pain, but, on August 21, 2003, following a review, it denied his claim for long-term disability benefits. When Briggs’ treating doctor…