Successfully Defended a Claims Administrator

Client: Claims administrator

A third-party claims administrator (TPA) for Workers’ Compensation claims was sued by a former employee of a company for whom the TPA administered claims. The employee alleged the TPA had fraudulently denied her workers’ compensation claim and committed workers’ compensation discrimination. The TPA was originally represented by other counsel, who filed and lost a motion to dismiss. We then filed a writ of prohibition with the West Virginia Supreme Court, seeking dismissal of the employee’s lawsuit based upon the statute of limitations and statutory immunity provided to third-party administrators with respect to workers’ compensation discrimination lawsuits. We prevailed on these arguments before the supreme court, which resulted in the dismissal of all claims against our client.