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Google Security Specialist With Double Lung Transplant Wins Metlife LTD Appeal

The case involves a Google security sales specialist whose high-level position required him to work with corporations and sell Google’s security services. In late 2022, he underwent a bilateral lung transplant but returned to work within approximately three months. Although he attempted to continue working, his health problems increasingly affected his stamina, energy, focus, and concentration. His declining performance was even documented in his employment performance reviews. By October 2023, he could no longer continue working and filed a long-term disability claim with MetLife, which initially approved his benefits.

MetLife began paying benefits in April 2024 but terminated the claim in July 2025. The insurer relied primarily on reviews performed by two internal employees: a nurse who evaluated the physical issues associated with the lung transplant and a licensed social worker who reviewed the mental health component of the claim. They concluded that the client’s condition had stabilized following the transplant, there was insufficient evidence of continued functional impairment, and his mental health symptoms were not severe enough to support continued disability benefits.

The medical history presented a significantly more complicated picture. Before MetLife terminated benefits, the client had already been approved for Social Security disability benefits and had experienced multiple multi-day hospitalizations for pneumonia and other illnesses associated with his compromised health following the transplant. He remained on immunosuppressant medications, and his physicians documented concerns about weakness, repeated illness, and cognitive problems potentially associated with the transplant, medications, or a combination of both. Cognitive testing produced some evidence of decline but was not sufficiently definitive on its own to establish the full extent of his impairment.

Attorney Stephen Jessup developed an appeal designed to document the complete impact of the client’s physical, cognitive, and mental health conditions rather than evaluating the lung transplant in isolation. Key components of the appeal included:

• Obtaining MetLife’s complete claim file and analyzing the internal medical reviews to identify weaknesses and inconsistencies with the client’s existing medical records.
• Obtaining detailed statements and customized questionnaires from the client’s supportive treating physicians addressing his restrictions, limitations, and ability to work.
• Developing the mental health component of the claim by obtaining records and working with the client’s therapist to document how his symptoms affected his occupational functioning.
• Demonstrating that MetLife needed to consider all of the client’s medical conditions and symptoms, not simply whether his transplanted lungs were medically stable.
• Reviewing the existing cognitive testing alongside consistent complaints documented throughout his medical records.
• Submitting medical literature and research addressing cognitive impairment following lung transplantation and the potential cognitive side effects associated with anti-rejection medications.

The customized physician statements were particularly important because they were designed around the client’s specific medical conditions, occupational responsibilities, and the language of the disability policy. His treating providers were able to explain how his ongoing symptoms affected his ability to perform his demanding Google position and, more broadly, how those limitations affected his capacity to work under MetLife’s applicable occupational standard. This evidence helped fill gaps that were not adequately addressed by the insurer’s initial internal reviews.

Because Google’s disability plan was governed by ERISA, the appeal was also a critical opportunity to develop the administrative record. The attorneys emphasized that medical documentation, physician opinions, research, and other supporting evidence needed to be submitted before MetLife issued its final appeal decision because evidence omitted from the administrative process may not be available for consideration in subsequent litigation. Rather than simply submitting MetLife’s appeal form, the appeal was developed to address the medical and functional issues underlying the denial comprehensively.

MetLife ultimately reversed its denial and reinstated the client’s long-term disability benefits. The client also received the substantial past-due benefits that had accumulated while his claim was denied. His attorneys continue to monitor the claim, including reviewing updated medical records and assisting with claimant and attending physician statements, to ensure that his ongoing physical, cognitive, and mental health limitations remain appropriately documented.

The case demonstrates why medical stability after a major procedure does not necessarily mean that a person has regained the functional capacity required for full-time employment. For a lung transplant recipient, recurrent illness, reduced stamina, medication side effects, cognitive problems, and mental health symptoms can collectively interfere with the ability to sustain demanding work even when the transplant itself is considered medically stable. Thorough documentation connecting each of those limitations to the claimant’s occupational responsibilities can be essential when challenging a disability benefit termination.