In Martellacci v. The Guardian Life Insurance Company, in relevant part, the court granted dismissal of the bad faith claim because: 1) it relates to a disability policy that the court previously determined is covered under ERISA; 2) state laws that relate to ERISA-covered employee benefit plans are pre-empted by ERISA; and 3) the Third Circuit has previously ruled that bad faith claims, specifically, are pre-empted.

The court noted, in dicta, that it interpreted the claim of “bad faith/negligence” as a statutory bad faith claim in order to analyze it in a light most favorable to the non-moving party/insured, who was acting pro se.

Date of Decision:  February 19, 2009

Martellacci v. Guardian Life Ins. Co., CIVIL ACTION No. 08-2541, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13773 (E.D. Pa. Feb. 20, 2009)(Rufe, J.)