« Fetching a car is not FMLA-protected leave | Main | Jottings By An Employer's Lawyer »
Restraining order isn't a COBRA "qualifying event"
July 13, 2005 by Ross Runkel at LawMemo
Today's Employment Law Memo tells us that a protective order from a divorce court does not trigger COBRA's notice requirement.
The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) authorizes a qualified beneficiary of an employer's group health insurance plan to maintain coverage, when she might otherwise lose coverage, upon the occurrence of a "qualifying event."
A "qualifying event" requires the health plan administrator to notify the beneficiary that she may elect to continue health insurance coverage in return for premium payments. "Divorce or legal separation of the covered employee from the employee's spouse" constitutes a "qualifying event" under COBRA. 29 USC Section 1163(3).
After Zeda Simpson sued her husband for divorce, the divorce court entered three interlocutory protective orders requiring Zeda's husband to stay away from her and the marital residence. Her ERISA Plan administrator decided this was a "qualifying event," and sent her a COBRA notice. Zeda protested, but elected coverage.
Nobody paid Zeda's premiums, so the Plan cancelled the insurance.
Later, Zeda told the Plan she had a final divorce decree and wished to elect COBRA coverage, but the Plan told her that her COBRA rights had expired.
The 10th Circuit put the issue this way:
"whether an Oklahoma divorce court's interlocutory protective orders requiring a husband, a 'covered employee,' to stay away from his wife, a 'qualified beneficiary,' pending their divorce qualified as a 'legal separation,' thereby triggering COBRA's notice requirement and the wife's corresponding obligation to pay premiums in exchange for continued coverage."
The 10th Circuit answered "no." Simpson v. T.D. Williamson Inc (10th Cir 07/11/2005).
The court concluded that "'legal separation,' and thus a 'qualifying event,' occurs within the meaning of COBRA Sections 1161(a) and 1163(3) only upon entry of a final court decree adjudicating the parties legal rights and obligations but preserving the marriage bond."
My view: A correct reading of ERISA and COBRA. Any divorce lawyer will tell you that an order restraining one spouse from having contact with the other is not the same as a legal separation.
EEOC | NLRB | Supreme Court | Employment Law Blog | Arbitration Blog | Employment Law 101
