(July 20, 2017, 12:10 PM EDT) -- SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A de novo standard of review must be applied in a denial of disability benefits suit because the disability plan’s discretionary authority provision is not valid under California law, a California federal judge said July 12 in granting the disability claimant’s motion for summary judgment (Renee Johnson Monroe v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., No. 15-2079, E.D. Calif., 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 109012)....