Heather Austin (Partner-Philadelphia, PA), Josh Bachrach (Partner-Philadelphia, PA) and Parks Stone (Partner-Atlanta, GA) obtained summary judgment in favor of our client carrier in an ERISA lawsuit pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. The plaintiff sought disability benefits shortly after she began working for the policyholder. But in the months before her coverage began, she was seen by doctors for fatigue, joint pain and swelling, muscle weakness, nausea, lung issues and stomach issues. A few months after she began working she was diagnosed with scleroderma and then stopped working. While scleroderma was responsible for all of the plaintiff’s symptoms, she argued that the policy’s preexisting conditions limitation did not apply to her claim because a diagnosis was not made until after she stopped working. Citing to an earlier Eleventh Circuit decision in which Wilson Elser represented the defendant, the court reached “the inescapable conclusion” that the client’s decision was reasonable and it was entitled to judgment in its favor.