Zeyu Wang v. Hartford Life and Accident Insurance Co.

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 6 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE ZEYU WANG, CASE NO. C25-0825-KKE Plaintiff(s), ORDER GRANTING PARTIES’ v. STIPULATED MOTION ON STANDARD OF REVIEW HARTFORD LIFE AND ACCIDENT INSURANCE CO, Defendant(s).

13 Plaintiff Zeyu Wang brings this action under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) to recover long-term disability benefits denied by Defendant Hartford Life and Accident Insurance Co. In the parties’ joint status report (Dkt. No. 18), Wang raised an unresolved issue: the appropriate standard of review of the record. Dkt. No. 18 at 2. Thus, in issuing the case schedule, the Court set a briefing schedule on the standard of review. Dkt. No. 19. On January 21, 2026, the parties filed a stipulated motion requesting “that for the purposes of this case …, the Court will employ a de novo standard of review if this matter proceeds to trial.” Dkt. No. 20 at 1.

20 // // // // 1 The Court GRANTS the parties’ stipulated motion. See Rorabaugh v. Cont’l Cas. Co., 321 Fed. Appx. 708, 709 (9th Cir. 2009) (a court may accept the parties’ stipulation to de novo review).

4 Dated this 22nd day of January, 2026.

A Kymberly K. Evanson 7 United States District Judge