Insult to Injury

Chapter FifteenKICK IN THE ASSETS

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YEARS AFTER UNUMPROVIDENT HAD FILED ITS APPEALS IN McGregor and Hangarter to the Ninth Circuit, and months after oral argument, two different three-judge panels issued rulings in both cases. The first ruling came in McGregor on January 15, 2004. The panel, made up of justices Procter Hug Jr., Betty Binns Fletcher, and A. Wallace Tashima, unanimously affirmed the trial court’s verdict, finding Unum guilty of bad faith. Following a futile attempt to obtain an en banc hearing (involving a panel of twelve judges) from the entire circuit, Unum finally paid the judgment. It really had no choice but to do so. The only additional appeal it had left was to petition the U.S. Supreme Court, and the types of cases accepted ...