A Boeing financial analyst’s lawsuit accuses the aerospace giant, its insurer Hartford, and administrator Alight Solutions of stonewalling her disability benefit claims after a career-ending illness.
Andrea Clark, who joined Boeing in July 2013 as a level three financial analyst, filed her complaint in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, on September 10, 2025. According to the complaint, Clark’s employment ended in February 2024 when she was forced to stop working due to paresthesia, paralysis, double crush syndrome, cervical radiculopathy, lumbar radiculopathy, and degenerative disease. Her physicians, the complaint states, found her totally disabled and unable to return to work despite treatment with medication, nerve conduction studies, physical therapy, and chiropractic care.
Clark alleges that The Boeing Corporation, Hartford Life and Accident Insurance Company, and Alight Solutions LLC, formerly known as ReedGroup, failed to pay her both short-term disability (STD) and long-term disability (LTD) benefits. The complaint describes a prolonged and unsuccessful effort to secure benefits she claims were owed under her employment terms.
Clark’s responsibilities at Boeing included preparing presentation materials for management, developing and analyzing cost and schedule performance baselines, submitting programmatic earned value management (EVM) data to the government, and collaborating with finance teams. After her disabling conditions began, Clark and her physicians attempted several treatments, but she remained unable to return to work.
The complaint alleges that Boeing agreed to pay compensation in the form of STD benefits for periods when Clark was unable to perform her regular occupation, with these STD benefits described as a payroll practice and not an ERISA plan. In February 2024, Clark filed for STD benefits, but Boeing denied her claim in a letter dated March 14, 2024, stating it had not received sufficient medical evidence. Clark alleges she appealed the denial by letter dated May 15, 2024. In July 2024, Clark’s former counsel sent a letter to Boeing requesting information about her benefits, including plan documents and the amount of monthly benefits. Boeing upheld the denial in a letter dated August 16, 2024.
Clark alleges that in January 2025, Boeing informed her that her STD appeal had not been submitted to ReedGroup (now Alight), the third-party administrator. She received a “claim status summary” dated January 27, 2025, indicating her STD claim remained denied. Clark filed another appeal on February 17, 2025, and contacted Boeing on March 3, 2025, but was told they could not assist her because she was no longer an active employee. Her counsel sent a certified letter to Boeing and ReedGroup on March 20, 2025, regarding her STD claim. On April 25, 2025, Clark received an email from Alight with documents related to her leave and medical correspondence. The complaint alleges neither Boeing nor Alight responded to her appeal or requests for additional information.
The complaint further alleges that Alight, as third-party administrator, intentionally denied Clark’s STD claim despite what Clark describes as adequate proof, causing Boeing to breach its employment agreement with Clark.
Clark also alleges that she faxed her application for LTD benefits to Hartford on August 7, 2024, but Hartford claimed not to have received it and directed her to apply through Boeing’s WorkLife system. Clark reapplied, but on February 4, 2025, was told by Boeing that she could not apply for LTD benefits until her STD claim was processed. Clark’s counsel sent a certified letter to the Plan Administrator for the Boeing Employee Benefit Plans Committee and to Hartford on March 26, 2025, as a formal appeal. Hartford received the appeal by certified mail on April 9, 2025. The complaint states that more than 150 days have passed since Hartford received the appeal, with no response from either Hartford or Boeing, resulting in a deemed denial under ERISA.
Clark alleges that Boeing and Hartford wrongfully denied her LTD benefits in violation of the LTD Plan and ERISA, and that both breached their fiduciary duties by mishandling the LTD claim process. The complaint seeks payment of all past due STD and LTD benefits, statutory damages, attorneys’ fees, and other relief.
No specific insurance policy clauses or exclusions are quoted in the complaint. The dispute, as alleged, centers on the administration of group disability benefits and the obligations of employers, insurers, and third-party administrators under ERISA and state law.
It is important to note that all allegations in the complaint remain unproven, and the case is at the pleading stage.
