Terry v. Bayer Corporation, 1998 U.S. App. LEXIS 11284 (1^st Cir. May 27, 1998)-This is an appeal of the summary judgment in favor of the plan regarding the termination of long-term disability benefits.

After receiving benefits for a time, Bayer put Terry though a work hardening program since certain doctors opined that Terry's pain was out of proportion to his injury. Terry conducted some pro se appeals of the claim denial.

Terry then hired a lawyer. On June 1, 1994, Terry's counsel demanded reinstatement of the benefits. In a letter dated June 18, 1994, Bayer notified Terry that he needed to appeal within ninety (90) days. On August 15, 1995, more than a year later, Terry appealed.

In December 1995, Bayer denied the appeal as being untimely. Bayer also, as a courtesy, considered the claim's merits and denied the claim on the merits.

The First Circuit held that it must review the final decision in the administrative process-not the initial decision in the process. In deciding to engage in the limited discretionary review, the First Circuit found that (i) the Plan granted Bayer the discretionary authority to interpret and apply the terms of the Plan; (ii) the Plan authorized Bayer to delegate duties and authority; and (iii) Bayer delegated the discretionary authority to review claims and appeals to the Committee. The decisions of the Committee are entitled to deferential review.

Terry argued the denial notice was improper since it did not tell him what information he needed to provide to win his appeal. The First Circuit held that the denial notice must contain information telling a claimant what is necessary to perfect his appeal not to win the claim.