Arrabito v. First Unum Life Ins. Co.

Background

This document concerns a joint letter motion asking the court to resolve a discovery dispute in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) case. Arrabito served written discovery on the defendants. After some responses and supplemental responses, the parties disagreed about whether the defendants had to provide additional information responsive to Interrogatory No. 5(e).

That interrogatory asked for the amount First Unum paid either Dr. Neil Greenstein directly or the entity that contracted with him for his work during 2020 and 2024. The parties’ submissions identify that entity as Dane Street. The dispute focused on payments connected to Greenstein’s review of Arrabito’s disability-benefits claim.

The document also states that, in an earlier discovery ruling, the court denied Arrabito’s requests for additional responses to Interrogatory No. 6 and Request for Production No. 4 and denied the request to depose Director Katy Dixon. The court granted permission to depose Greenstein about his financial conflict of interest and whether that conflict affected his file-review opinions.

Parties’ Positions

Arrabito argued that the requested payment information was relevant to Greenstein’s compensation, financial incentives, and possible bias. Arrabito asked the court to order the defendants to provide a complete response about payments made to Greenstein or Dane Street for his services.

The defendants argued that the request for total payments to Dane Street was outside the discovery previously allowed, outside the appropriate scope of ERISA discovery, and excessively broad in time and scope. They stated that Dane Street was an independent contractor, that Dane Street selected reviewing physicians and determined their compensation, and that First Unum did not know how much Greenstein was paid by Dane Street. The defendants also offered to provide a sworn statement concerning those matters.

Court’s Action

The order did not grant or deny the joint discovery letter motion and did not resolve whether the defendants must provide the requested payment information. Instead, it scheduled a discovery conference for December 2, 2025, at 2:30 p.m. in Courtroom 228 at 40 Foley Square in New York, New York.

The opinion text shows the scheduling order addressed to and signed by United States Magistrate Judge Jennifer E. Willis, while the supplied case metadata identifies Judge Gregory Woods. No ruling on the merits of Arrabito’s ERISA claim appears in this document.