Eventually, Carl's diabetes forced him to retire, and one day at age 66 he stepped on a screw while working in the yard. He developed an infection in his right foot and soon thereafter his foot had to be amputated.

Carl's insurer, Provident Life & Accident Insurance Co., refused to pay Carl his accidental dismemberment benefits, contending Carl lost his foot as a result of his diabetes, a "disease" excluded under the terms of the policy, and not as a result of his "acci- dental" stepping on a screw. While a difficult and expensive case to litigate, falling under a body of federal law known as "ERISA", and while a relatively small policy benefit of $25,000 was at stake, we took the case anyway because it offended our notions of justice that a company as large as Provident would deny Carl $25,000 in dismemberment benefits after he had paid premiums on his policy for 28 years. After more than a year of litigation, and after survi- ving and defeating Provident's Motion for Summary Judgment, Provident chose not to risk trial on the case and paid Carl 90% of the insurance benefits due to him.