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Judge: Employee Can't Sue For COBRA Non-Payment 'Distress'
>According to a report in EBIA Weekly, the plaintiff’s coverage was eventually terminated. She alleged in her suit that her employer didn’t send in four months worth of payments, a failure, which she claimed caused her “emotional and mental distress from subsequent billing problems.”
>The judge in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri threw out the plaintiff’s claims for emotional distress and punitive and compensatory damages. Noting that COBRA is enforced under the “exclusive ERISA civil enforcement remedies” contained in ERISA Section 502, the court ruled that extra-contractual damages (i.e., damages “other than the payment of benefits owed under a plan”) are not available under ERISA for a violation of COBRA.
The case is Habib-Stevens v. Trans States Airlines, Inc.,
No. 4:02CV328-DJS (E.D.Mo. June 26, 2003).