life insurance, not paying.

gmctruck68

New Member
Jurisdiction
Ohio
my mother died recently, her life insurance isnt paying out because she was terminated from her job and the premiums for the policy werent paid..i believe that she may have been wrongfully terminated because she had PTSD, is this a viable route to take?
 
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do i have a course of legal action if she was wrongfully terminated having ptsd, does that make it any clearer?

I'm so sorry to hear of the loss of beloved mother.

Only a court can say for sure, however, based upon your comments I know of no statute that requires an employer NOT to terminate an employee afflicted with PTSD.

If you want to satisfy your every curiosity, talk to a couple local lawyers.
 
do i have a course of legal action if she was wrongfully terminated having ptsd, does that make it any clearer?
I'm sorry for the loss of your Mother.

Based just on the information posted, we can't say & generally the person terminated would bring the wrongful termination lawsuit which can't be the case here. It depends on various factors: whether she requested an accommodation under the ADA; if a reasonable accommodation was granted/could be granted; she could be terminated even with a disability if her work was not up to par etc. .....

You can certainly discuss complete details with an employment attorney.

Re the life ins. - the only thing the ins. co. is concerned with is whether the premiums were paid. They are not going to pay on a lapsed policy.
 
There is nothing in the law that says a person who has PTSD cannot be fired, so simply the fact that she had PTSD and was fired does not make this a wrongful term. Can you share more details about the firing? And how long ago did it happen?
 
she got fired in January of this year, then died in june, after she got fired she couldnt get unemployment for some odd reason, then she contacted the unemployment office and eventually got "back" unemployment checks. She had a good standing record at her job for 20 years, then when her health started to deteriorate(bad knees) her work suffered, attendance wise. She had all the proper documents from doctors stating that she was "sick", so the company she worked for could understand and give her space to do her thing and heal. She believed that she was wrongfully fired and with the proper documents she sent to unemployment, that is how she won it. Could this apply to my case?
 
sorry, ptsd was from a house fire she and I experienced in 2008 where my step dads mom died, then my step brother died in 2009, bad knees just happened over time.
 
It would be very difficult for you to pursue this. You don't have any first hand knowledge of exactly why she was fired, and without her being able to refute or deny anything they say, well they can say anything. When you say "all the proper documents that she was sick" are you referring to FMLA documents? IF she quailed for FMLA leave then she could not be terminated for missing work due to the FMLA certified condition. However, if her work performance was not up to par when she was at work, then she could be legally terminated for poor performance. You may try to get a consultation with a lawyer, show them any paperwork that you have and see what they think your chances are. The "win" with unemployment doesn't necessarily have anything to do with whether she was or was not illegally terminated.
 
We don't know if she requested FMLA or even if she qualified for FMLA or if she might have requested an ADA accommodation etc. There is a lot we don't know. Your best bet is to discuss what you do know with an employment attorney.
 
i appreciate the advice everyone, thank you. had another question as well, i hope it isnt inappropriate to ask here, i am also supposed to be a beneficiary of her 401k, i read online that to cash out a 401k in cases of death, you dont have to be penalized, anyone have any info on this?
 
i appreciate the advice everyone, thank you. had another question as well, i hope it isnt inappropriate to ask here, i am also supposed to be a beneficiary of her 401k, i read online that to cash out a 401k in cases of death, you dont have to be penalized, anyone have any info on this?



I believe you're correct.
 
Do you know why your mother was terminated? Like the specifics. Even if you think it is because of her disability, you are too late to file based on state law and darn close to the statute of limitations for federal. Without anything more than bad knees and a PTSD diagnosis, I do not see this going very far at all. In fact, I am not certain you can even file at all. If Mom had filed and died prior to resolution, the claim could continue. Since she did not, I am not at all confident you can claim discrimination in her stead, particularly if you do not have proof and are basing it only on the fact that she had 2 medical conditions.

In any case, this still does not solve your insurance issue.
 
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