The Hartford may have been careless and negligent in evaluating your claim for disability benefits because it was careless and negligent in hiring people to work for it.
Shockingly, The Hartford has a record of hiring convicted felons as employees and medical reviewers.
It is a federal felony, a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1033 (e) for a person convicted of a felony involving dishonesty or breach of trust to be employed by an insurance company or to work as a person authorized to act on behalf of an insurer. The statute is very broad, and according to the National Association of Insurance commissioners, appears to include any subcontractors, third party administrators, professionals and the like. NAIC, Guidelines for State Insurance Regulators to the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, p. 4. Such convicted felons can only work in the insurance industry with a waiver approved by a state Department of Insurance.
Spyros Panos was a doctor who was convicted of fraud and lost his medical license. He set up a “front” business to provide peer review reports in workers compensation cases, providing peer reviews, while fraudulently using a licensed doctor’s name, in cases around the country. The Hartford hired Panos to provide hundreds of reports, quite obviously because its background investigation of his “front” company was careless and negligent.
Hartford hired Aliyah Davis as an ability analyst to work on disability claims in 2015, after she had been convicted of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft while employed by a different insurance company. Aliyah Davis worked for The Hartford at least from December, 2015 through August, 2016, with access to long term disability claimants confidential medical and financial information. Aliyah Davis was arrested again in September, 2016, and convicted again of aggravated identity theft and fraud — including crimes she committed while employed by The Hartford as an ability analyst adjudicating long term disability terms.
Obviously, The Hartford’s background investigation of Aliyah Davis was negligent and careless. But once The Hartford learned that Aliyah Davis was a convicted felon for fraud and aggravated identity theft and committed more felonies involving aggravated identity theft and fraud while she worked as an ability analyst for The Hartford, it did not warn its insured that the security of their personal medical and financial information had been compromised — and that failure to warn was not negligent. Instead, The Hartford covered up the fact that its carelessness and negligence allowed a felon access to its insured confidential financial and medical information.
If The Hartford treated you unfairly or dishonestly by denying you disability benefits, The ERISA Law Center can help you. Sometimes The Hartford’s dishonestly handles claims because its hiring practices are negligent and careless and it hires criminals and frauds to work for it. Sometime The Hartford unfairly denies claims because its employees are careless or dishonest or not properly trained. The ERISA Law Center can help you, call us today.