Singleton v. Temporary Disability Benefits Plan for Salaried Employees of Champion International Corp. 505

**What Happened:** Beverly Singleton worked for Champion International Corporation and applied for disability benefits through her employer's plan after struggling with depression. The company's disability plan denied her claim, giving different reasons for the denial over time. When Singleton sued, the lower court dismissed her case, saying she had waited too long to file her lawsuit. **What the Court Decided:** The appeals court disagreed with the lower court's decision. The judges found that Singleton had not waited too long to sue and that the disability plan's denial of her benefits was unreasonable. The court criticized the plan for constantly changing its reasons for denying benefits and for failing to properly consider evidence that Singleton was suffering from depression before she left her job. The court sent the case back to the plan administrator to make a new, proper decision about whether Singleton qualified for disability benefits. **Why This Matters for Workers:** This ruling protects workers who apply for disability benefits from unfair denials. It shows that employers and their disability plans cannot keep changing their reasons for rejecting claims or ignore medical evidence. Workers have legal recourse when benefit decisions appear arbitrary or unreasonable.