Warnock v Office of Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance
Indiana Reservist Files Action Against U.S. Government and Prudential Insurance Over Denial of Coverage for Stillborn Child
A class action has been filed against the federal Office of Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance and Prudential Insurance Company of America on behalf of members of the armed services who purchased life insurance policies from Prudential through the office, but were denied coverage for a child of more than 20 weeks' gestation that was stillborn. The action alleges that this breached class members' contracts and violated federal insurance law. The action seeks unspecified compensatory damages.
Named plaintiff Michael Warnock, an Air Force reservist, alleges that Prudential refused to pay a $10,000 claim he filed after his son, Joshua, was stillborn on April 14, 2002. His wife, Christine, carried the child for 38 weeks. Under Indiana law, any stillborn baby who was in gestation for at least 20 weeks must have a burial because it is considered a life at that point. The U.S. military's Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance program covers soldiers and their spouses and children.
The proposed class consists of persons in the military's insurance program whose stillborn babies were in gestation for at least 20 weeks and were delivered after August 1993.
Prudential collects $500 million annually in premiums to insure and administer the program for the military.
