Curtis Bledsoe v. Hartford Life, (8th Cir. 1999)

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United States Court of Appeals FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

No. 98-4218

Curtis Bledsoe, Appellant, v. Hartford Life and Accident Insurance Company, Appellee.

Submitted: November 26, 1999 Filed: December 6, 1999

Before BOWMAN, FAGG, and MURPHY, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM.

Curtis Bledsoe appeals from the District CourtÂ’s1 order granting summary judgment to Hartford Life and Accident Insurance Company in this Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) action. After careful review of the record and the partiesÂ’ submissions, we conclude that the District Court correctly determined that BledsoeÂ’s suit is barred because he failed to exhaust his administrative remedies. See Kinkead v. Southwestern Bell Corp. Sickness & Accident Disability Benefit Plan, 111 F.3d 67, 68 (8th Cir. 1997) ("[B]enefit claimants must exhaust the review procedures mandated by [ERISA] before bringing claims for wrongful denial to court.").

Accordingly, we affirm. See 8th Cir. R. 47B.

A true copy.

Attest:

CLERK, U.S. COURT OF APPEALS, EIGHTH CIRCUIT.

Appeal from the United States

District Court for the

Eastern District of Arkansas.

[UNPUBLISHED]

[1] The Honorable Henry Woods, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas.

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