ERISA Administrative Appeal Barred As Untimely

The First Circuit held that a plaintiff failed to timely exhaust her administrative remedies under a long-term disability plan because the plan's 180-day time limit for submitting appeals commenced on the date the plaintiff received notice of the decision that it was going to terminate her long-term disability benefits, not the actual date her benefits were terminated. In so ruling, the Court rejected plaintiff's argument that the doctrine of substantial compliance and the state's notice-prejudice rule somehow excused her late-filed appeal. The Court first concluded that the doctrine of substantial compliance, which is sometimes used by a plan administrator to excuse a failure to comply perfectly with ERISA's notice requirements, could not be used by the plaintiff to excuse her late filing because such an expansion of the doctrine would render it "effectively impossible" for plan...