CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) – UnumProvident Corp. named Thomas R. Watjen as its top executive, ending an interim appointment amid hundreds of claims-handling lawsuits and regulator investigations in 40 states.

A statement from the company, the nation’s largest disability insurer, said its board of directors appointed Watjen, 49. A news conference was scheduled for Tuesday.

Watjen worked as UnumProvident’s interim president and chief executive officer since Harold Chandler was fired in March.

Hundreds of lawsuits filed by policyholders contend UnumProvident routinely denies claims and requires its medical employees to support the denials.

Dozens of states are conducting investigations and Georgia insurance officials imposed a $1 million fine in March.

Shareholders are also suing, accusing the company of making misleading statements and improperly denying some claims to artificially inflate its stock price.

At least two complaints seeking class-action status have been filed since the company announced in February that it had recorded investment losses of $93 million.

The company has described the complaints as “entirely without merit.”

Former CEO J. Harold Chandler was fired after UnumProvident’s stock price plunged to $5.90 and the company restated three years of earnings in response to a Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry.

Share prices were down 27 cents to close at $14.77 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Watjen joined UnumProvident in 1994 as executive vice president and chief financial officer. In May 2002, he was promoted to vice chairman and chief operating officer and elected to the board.

UnumProvident, created by the 1999 merger of the Unum Corp. of Portland, Maine, and The Provident Companies, based in Chattanooga, claims about 30 percent of the nation’s disability insurance business.

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On the Net:

UnumProvident: http://www.unumprovident.com

AP-ES-09-30-03 1627EDT