As an engineer, your entire career is built on a foundation of logic, precision, and irrefutable data. You design systems, structures, and processes where every component must work exactly as intended. A misplaced decimal, a flawed calculation, or a faulty schematic can lead to catastrophic failure. You live by the rules of physics, mathematics, and code.
So, when your health fails and you can no longer perform the demanding duties of your profession, you follow the rules. You file a long-term disability (LTD) claim, providing medical records and statements from your doctors. You logically expect the insurance company—a business built on assessing risk and honoring contracts—to follow the rules, too.
Then the denial letter arrives. Suddenly, you are thrust into a world that feels arbitrary and illogical. The reasons for the denial seem to fly in the face of medical facts and the reality of your daily professional life. The insurance company has simplified your complex, high-stakes career into a generic “desk job,” completely ignoring the cognitive rigor, mental endurance, and specialized skills that define your occupation.
At Robinson & Warncke, it’s a problem we are uniquely equipped to solve. We see not just a denied claim, but a flawed system that requires deconstruction and overwhelming evidence.
The Core Misunderstanding of the Engineering Profession
Insurance adjusters operate from a playbook. Their goal is to find a contractual reason to deny a claim, and they often begin by fundamentally mischaracterizing your job. They see that you work in an office or on a computer and apply a dangerously simplistic label to your role.
This flawed perspective is the root cause of most denials for engineers. They fail to grasp that an engineer’s most valuable asset isn’t their ability to sit at a desk, but their capacity for sustained, high-level cognitive function.
We see this manifest in several common, yet deeply flawed, reasons for denial.
1. The “You Can Still Perform Sedentary Work” Argument
This is the most common and insulting argument. The insurer’s paid medical consultant, who has never met you or visited your workplace, will review your file and conclude that since your condition doesn’t prevent you from sitting for six hours a day, you are not “totally disabled.”
This ignores the reality of your profession:
- A Software Engineer with post-concussion syndrome may be able to physically type, but the screen glare induces migraines, and cognitive fog makes debugging complex code impossible.
- A Civil Engineer with a degenerative disc disease might be able to sit, but they can no longer handle the hours of driving and walking required for essential on-site project inspections.
- A Mechanical Engineer with severe arthritis in their hands can no longer manipulate CAD software with the precision required to design intricate machine parts.
The insurer focuses on the physical shell of the job, not its intellectual core. We fight back by proving that the “sedentary” tasks they point to are impossible to perform without the cognitive clarity and physical capability that your disability has taken from you.
2. Misinterpreting the “Own Occupation” Definition
For a professional like an engineer, the “own occupation” definition in your policy is the entire battlefield. A strong policy defines disability as being unable to perform the material duties of your specific job. However, insurance companies will try to broaden this definition.
They might argue that even if you can’t function as a Senior Project Manager overseeing a multi-million dollar infrastructure build, you could still work as a junior-level CAD Drafter. They see the title “engineer” and ignore the vast differences in responsibility, stress, and cognitive load between roles.
Our job is to build a wall of evidence around your specific occupation. We use vocational experts, detailed job descriptions, and performance reviews to create an undeniable portrait of your precise duties—the deadlines, the complex problem-solving, the team management, and the immense pressure—and prove that your medical condition makes performing that specific role impossible.
3. Downplaying “Invisible” and Cognitive Disabilities
Engineering is a high-stress, mentally taxing profession. It is a field where burnout, anxiety, and depression are common. Furthermore, many engineers suffer from “invisible” conditions like fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), Crohn’s disease, or the lingering effects of Lyme disease.
Because these conditions don’t always show up clearly on an MRI or X-ray, insurance companies attack them as “subjective.” They will argue that there is no “objective evidence” to support your reported symptoms of chronic pain, cognitive fog, or debilitating fatigue.
This is where a deep understanding of the law and medicine is critical. We work with your treating physicians to document your condition through every available means, including neuropsychological testing, detailed symptom logs, and statements from colleagues. We build a case that shows how your “invisible” illness creates very real, visible barriers to performing the high-level analytical work your career demands.
Our Approach To Appeals
A denial letter is not the end. It is a problem statement. Under the federal law known as ERISA, which governs most employer-provided disability plans, your appeal is your one and only opportunity to build the official record for your case. If you later have to sue, a judge can generally only review the evidence submitted in your appeal file.
This makes the appeal the single most critical stage of your fight. Submitting a simple letter from your doctor is not enough; you need to build a case as meticulously as you would design a bridge.
1. We Deconstruct the Denial and Reverse-Engineer Their Strategy
The first thing we do is analyze your denial letter line by line. This letter is a schematic of the insurance company’s arguments. We identify the medical consultants they used, the evidence they ignored, and the logical fallacies in their reasoning. This allows us to anticipate their next moves and build an appeal that systematically dismantles their position.
2. We Assemble Overwhelming Vocational Evidence
We don’t just tell the insurance company what you did for a living; we prove it with exhaustive detail. We work with vocational experts to create a comprehensive report that details every facet of your job:
- Cognitive Demands: Sustained concentration, analytical reasoning, multi-tasking, data interpretation, and complex problem-solving.
- Physical Demands: Fine motor skills for computer work, site inspections, travel requirements, and stamina for long workdays.
- Psychosocial Demands: Managing deadlines, collaborating with teams, handling client pressure, and bearing immense responsibility for project outcomes.
This vocational evidence contrasts sharply with the generic, one-paragraph job description the insurer’s “expert” likely used.
3. We Translate Your Medical Reality into a Compelling Legal Argument
Your doctors are medical experts, not legal strategists. They provide the diagnosis, but we build the bridge connecting that diagnosis to your specific vocational duties. We provide them with detailed questionnaires and work with them to write powerful narrative letters that explain how your medical symptoms prevent you from performing the engineering tasks we’ve documented. We ensure the medical evidence speaks directly to the demands of your profession and the terms of your policy.
You Built Your Career on Evidence. Your Disability Appeal Should Be No Different.
Facing a disability denial can feel like a betrayal of the logical principles you’ve built your life around. The insurance company is counting on you to be confused and overwhelmed by their illogical process. They are hoping you will give up.
Don’t give up!
The fight for your disability benefits is an engineering problem that requires a legal solution. It requires a team that respects your analytical mindset, understands the true demands of your career, and knows how to assemble an evidence-based argument that is too logical and too powerful for an insurance company to ignore.
If your long-term disability claim has been denied, you have a limited time to appeal. Contact the experienced Atlanta, GA ERISA attorneys at Robinson & Warncke for a free, confidential consultation. Let us review your denial letter and show you the blueprint for a successful appeal.