The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has reinstated long-term disability benefits to a former sous chef who was forced to stop working due to a spinal cord infection.

Robert Shupe filed a complaint in the U.S. District for the Southern District of California against the Hartford Life & Accident Insurance Co. and the Hyatt Corporation Disability Plan in December 2017. Hartford determined in March 2017 that Shupe was no longer disabled according to his plan’s terms and terminated his disability benefits, nearly 11 years after he acquired them. The case was later relocated to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia after Shupe moved closer to family for assistance with his care, according to the unanimous three-judge appellate panel’s Dec. 7 ruling.