The following excerpt is from Seitzman v. Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada, Inc., 311 F.3d 477 (2nd Cir. 2002):
In Salovaara v. Eckert, 222 F.3d 19 (2d Cir.2000), we ruled that a benefits claimant who has a reasonable belief that he is entitled to benefits (i.e., a colorable claim) is not acting in bad faith, id. at 29-30, and reversed a finding of bad faith that heavily relied on the plaintiff's failure (by reason of a misunderstanding of the case law) to adduce evidence in support of his central arguments. Id. Also insufficient to show bad faith was the "passing mention" of a fact in the plaintiff's legal memorandum that plaintiff later contradicted. Id. at 30.
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