[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
________________________ FILED
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
No. 09-13688 ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
JAN 19, 2010
Non-Argument Calendar
JOHN LEY
________________________
ACTING CLERK
D.C. Docket No. 08-02165-CV-BE-M
KATHY AMOS,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
versus
HARTFORD LIFE AND ACCIDENT INSURANCE COMPANY,
Defendant-Appellee.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Alabama
________________________
(January 19, 2010)
Before BARKETT, HULL and COX, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
On October 14, 2008, Kathy Amos filed this lawsuit against Hartford Life and
Accident Insurance Company (“Hartford”) in Alabama state court. The single-count
complaint alleged that Hartford breached a group disability insurance policy (“the
Policy”) by “wrongly terminat[ing]” Amos’s benefits under the Policy. (Record
Excerpts 1-1.) Hartford removed the case to the United States District Court for the
Northern District of Alabama because Amos’s claim arises under the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. § 1001, et seq.
On Hartford’s motion, the district court dismissed Amos’s complaint with
prejudice, finding that her claim was barred by a contractual limitation of action
provision in the Policy. In the same order, the district court denied Amos’s motion
for remand to the plan administrator so that Hartford could consider medical records
that it had not considered previously, finding that remand was inappropriate because
the limitations period had expired. Amos appeals the dismissal and denial of remand.
After review of the briefs and record, we affirm. The district court properly
held that the three-year limitations period in the Policy is enforceable and, even if it
was tolled while administrative remedies were pursued, Amos’s suit was filed after
the limitations period expired. And, we agree with the district court that remand for
further consideration by the plan administrator is not appropriate under these
circumstances.
AFFIRMED.
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