A & M Gerber Chiropractic LLC v. Geico General Insurance Co.

321 F.R.D. 688, 2017 WL 2464674
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedJune 7, 2017
DocketCase No. 16-cv-62610-BLOOM/Valle
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 321 F.R.D. 688 (A & M Gerber Chiropractic LLC v. Geico General Insurance Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
A & M Gerber Chiropractic LLC v. Geico General Insurance Co., 321 F.R.D. 688, 2017 WL 2464674 (S.D. Fla. 2017).

Opinion

ORDER ON MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION

BETH BLOOM, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

THIS CAUSE is before the Court upon Plaintiffs Motion and Memorandum in Support of Class Certification, ECF No. [53] (“Motion”). The Court has carefully considered the Motion, all supporting and opposing filings, the relevant authority, and is otherwise duly advised in the premises. For the reasons that follow, the Motion is granted.

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff A & M Gerber Chiropractic LLC (“Plaintiff’) filed a Complaint, since amended, in the Circuit Court of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit in and for Broward County, Florida, which GEICO then removed to this Court. Plaintiff is a legal entity that provided medical treatment to an individual named Conor Carruthers (“Carruthers”) for injuries Carruthers sustained in an automobile accident. See EOF No. [23] (“Amended Complaint”) ¶ 13. Carruthers is a “contracting party and/or named insured” on an insurance policy issued by GEICO (“Policy”), and in exchange for treatment, Carruthers “assigned all benefits under the subject policy to Plaintiff." Id

According to Plaintiff, GEICO pays Policy claims pursuant to the fee schedule permit[693]*693ted by Fla. Stat. § 627.736(5)(a) and GEI-CO’a endorsement, FLPIP (01-13) (“Endorsement”). See id. ¶¶ 7, 10. Under the Endorsement, GEICO states that “[a] charge submitted by a provider, for an amount less than the amount allowed above, shall be paid in the amount of the charge submitted.” Id ¶ 10. Notwithstanding this Endorsement, Plaintiff alleges that GEICO pays only 80% of the billed amount when the charge submitted by the provider is less than the fee schedule amount. See id ¶ 11, In this case, Plaintiff billed GEICO for services less than the amount payable under the elected fee schedule, and pursuant to the Policy and Endorsement, GEICO paid 80% of the charge submitted. See id ¶ 14. Plaintiff pleads that pursuant to its interpretation of the Policy and Endorsement, GEICO paid an incorrect amount, a practice GEICO allegedly employs on a wide-spread scale. See id ¶¶ 11, 21. As such, Plaintiff seeks a declaratory judgment from this Court on behalf of itself and a class of individuals, asking the Court to “interpret[] Florida Statute 627.736 and the insurance Policy issued by GEICO” and declare that “Defendant’s Policy requires payment of 100% of the billed charges for all charges submitted under the Policy that are below the fee schedule amount.” Id at 12. Plaintiff “does not assert a claim for any monetary relief,” but rather, requests that the Court enter an order requiring notice to class members and grant attorneys’ fees and associated costs. See id ¶ 1.

Plaintiff now asks the Court to certify this action as a class action pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(a) and 23(b)(2), appoint class counsel under Rule 23(g), and appoint Plaintiff as a class representative. See EOF No. [63]. In response, Defendant argues that Plaintiff has failed to demonstrate that class certification is proper, requiring the dismissal of this action for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. See EOF No. [57]. Plaintiffs timely reply followed. See ECF No. [58].

II. LEGAL STANDARD

District courts have broad discretion in deciding whether to certify a class. Washington v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., 959 F.2d 1566, 1569 (11th Cir. 1992). To certify a class action, the named plaintiffs must have standing, and the putative classes must “satisfy an implicit ascertainability requirement, the four requirements listed in Rule 23(a), and the requirements listed in any of Rule 23(b)(1), (2), or (3).” Karhu v. Vital Pharm., Inc., 621 Fed.Appx. 945, 946 (11th Cir. 2015) (citing Little v. T-Mobile USA Inc., 691 F.3d 1302, 1304 (11th Cir. 2012)); see Fitzpatrick v. General Mills, Inc., 635 F.3d 1279, 1282 (11th Cir. 2011) (“[T]he putative class must meet each of the four requirements specified in [Rule] 23(a), as well as at least one of the three requirements set forth in [Rule] 23(b).”); Rutstein v. Avis Rent-A-Car Sys., Inc., 211 F.3d 1228, 1233 (11th Cir. 2000) (“A class action may be maintained only when it satisfies all of the requirements of Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a) and at least one of the alternative requirements of Rule 23(b).”). “Under Rule 23(a), every putative class first must satisfy the prerequisites of numerosity, commonality, typicality, and adequacy of representation.” Vega v. T-Mobile USA Inc., 564 F.3d 1256, 1265 (11th Cir. 2009) (citing Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a); Valley Drug Co. v. Geneva Pharms., Inc., 350 F.3d 1181, 1187-88 (11th Cir. 2003)). Plaintiff has chosen to proceed under Rule 23(b)(2), pursuant to which a class action may be maintained if “the party opposing the class has acted or refused to act on grounds that apply generally to the class, so that final injunctive relief or corresponding declaratory relief is appropriate respecting the class as a whole.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(2).

“The burden of establishing these requirements is on the plaintiff who seeks to certify the suit as a class action.” Heaven v. Trust Co. Bank, 118 F.3d 735, 737 (11th Cir. 1997); see also Rutstein, 211 F.3d at 1233. The moving party “must affirmatively demonstrate his compliance” with the class certification requirements. Comcast Corp. v. Behrend 569 U.S. 27, 133 S.Ct. 1426, 1432, 186 L.Ed.2d 515 (2013) (quoting Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, 564 U.S. 338, 131 S.Ct. 2541, 2551, 180 L.Ed.2d 374 (2011)). That is, [694]*694“a party must not only be prepared to prove that there are in fact sufficiently numerous parties, common questions of law or fact, typicality of claims or defenses, and adequacy of representation, as required by Rule 23(a) [but also] satisfy through evidentiary proof at least one of the provisions of Rule 23(b).” Id. (emphasis added). “A district court must conduct a rigorous analysis of the Rule 23 prerequisites before certifying a class.” Vega, 564 F.3d at 1266 (quoting Castano v. Am. Tobacco Co., 84 F.3d 734, 740 (5th Cir. 1996)).

III. DISCUSSION

A. Individual Standing

“It is well-settled in the Eleventh Circuit that prior to the certification of a class, and before undertaking an analysis under Rule 23, the district court must determine that at least one named class representative has Article III standing to raise each class claim.” In re Terazosin Hydrochloride Antitrust Litig., 220 F.R.D.

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321 F.R.D. 688, 2017 WL 2464674, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/a-m-gerber-chiropractic-llc-v-geico-general-insurance-co-flsd-2017.