Mealey's (January 19, 2016, 1:43 PM EST) -- CHARLOTTE, N.C. — In light of the “entirely unsettled” question of whether a jury trial is warranted in cases that question the validity of a plan document governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, a North Carolina federal judge on Jan. 14 treated a jury verdict as advisory, deeming a widow entitled to $140,905 in benefits under her husband’s group life insurance policy plan (American United Life Insurance Company v. Joanna Arthur and Steven Bruce Sumpter, No. 14-586, W.D. N.C.; 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4810)....