Hecht v. The Paul Revere Life Insurance Co. (Insurance)
Filed November 5, 2008, Second District, Div. Six
Cite as 2008 SOS 6059

Injury Limiting Physical Activities, Not Total Disability

Michael Hecht (Hecht) was a ”hands-on” owner of a clothing line stores for 20 years.

Hecht bought a disability insurance policy from The Paul Revere Life Insurance Co. (Paul Revere). In the policy, he declared himself as "buyer/manager/office operations."

Under the policy, total disability was defined as “being unable to perform the important duties of your occupation”. The policy also provided that he would receive about $10,000 a month in case of total disability.

When Hecht met an accident, he suffered from neck pain, upper back pain and lower back pain. He had a lumbar injury as confirmed by his physician. Consequently, it hindered his ability to walk, bend, sit and lift objects. However, these had not stopped him from going to work although with physical limitations.

When claiming for insurance benefits, his application was rejected. Paul Revere claimed that he was not totally disabled.

Consequently, he filed a case against the company.

The trial court ruled in favor of Paul Revere by granting the summary judgment filed by the latter.

The appeal court affirmed said decision and found the following:

• Hecht was not totally disabled

Duties that Hecht failed to perform after the accident were those not reasonably important for his position as buyer/manager/office operator.

His income was still equal to what he received before the accident and that he was still able to perform his tasks substantially. Hence, his ability was not diminished by the accident.

• Hecht job did not require him to exert substantial labor

Even if he alleged the fact that he was a “hands on” business owner who often exerted physical labor such was not enough to defeat summary judgment. Alleging such fact did not make any difference.