Beach v. Healthways, Inc.

264 F.R.D. 360, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1280, 2010 WL 145775
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Tennessee
DecidedJanuary 8, 2010
DocketNos. 3-08-0569, 3-08-0666
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 264 F.R.D. 360 (Beach v. Healthways, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Beach v. Healthways, Inc., 264 F.R.D. 360, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1280, 2010 WL 145775 (M.D. Tenn. 2010).

Opinion

ORDER

JULIET GRIFFIN, United States Magistrate Judge.

Pursuant to the order entered November 2, 2009 (Docket Entry No. 160), a hearing on the motion to intervene, the defendants’ motion to stay, and the defendants’ proposed modifications of the discovery plan was held on November 12, 2009, at which time the defendants’ motion for protective order to stay discovery (Docket Entry No. 141) was DENIED, and the motion of Central Laborers’ Pension Fund (“CLPF”) to intervene as a named plaintiff (Docket Entry No. 145) was GRANTED, as provided below.

Motion to Stay

The defendants sought to stay merits discovery until the ruling on the plaintiffs’ renewed motion for class certification (Docket Entry No. 148). Since, by order entered October 5, 2009 (Docket Entry No. 137), the Court denied the motion of the lead plaintiff West Palm Beach Firefighters’ Pension Fund for class certification (Docket Entry No. 93), the defendants want to insure that a class will actually be certified before the voluminous discovery is completed.

The defendants point to the massive discovery already produced1 and to be produced and the costs incurred and to be incurred and argue that, if a class is ultimately not certified or if the class period were shortened, the defendants will have spent millions of dollars for naught. The defendants point out that, although they raised the issue of the duration of the class period in their opposition to the plaintiffs’ prior motion for class certification, the Court specifically declined [363]*363to address that issue since it found that the claims of the West Palm Beach Firefighters’ Pension Fund were subject to atypical defenses and that its ability to protect the interests of the class was inadequate. See Docket Entry No. 136, at 11. Therefore, without a stay, the defendants will be subject to discovery related to a class period of 14 months, which might later be narrowed to as few as five months.

In response, the plaintiffs argue that there is no indication that the proposed intervenor CLPF will be subject to a unique defense, as was West Palm Beach Firefighters’ Pension Fund, which formed the basis of the denial of class certification. The plaintiffs also argue, inter alia, that, except during the pendency of a motion to dismiss, the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act (“PSLRA”) does not authorize a stay of discovery and that case law does not support such a stay. In addition, the plaintiffs point out that the amount of discovery involved in this case is not atypical of the amount of discovery in other large securities cases. See Docket Entry No. 157.

Although the Court acknowledges the possibility that the defendants may be required to engage in discovery that ultimately is determined unnecessary, the time frames in this ease simply do not permit the luxury of phasing or bifurcating discovery in the manner proposed by the defendants.2 The orders entered March 25, 2009 (Docket Entry Nos. 81-82), provided a March 31, 2010, deadline for completion of discovery. Although an extension of that deadline to June 30, 2010, was addressed on November 12, 2009, and is reflected in the order entered November 13, 2009 (Docket Entry No. 168), that expanded time period is still not sufficient to allow any portion of discovery to await the outcome of the pending motion for class certification.

Motion to Intervene

CLPF seeks to intervene as a plaintiff as of right pursuant to Rule 24(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or, alternatively, for permissive intervention pursuant to Rule 24(b)(2). The defendants opposed the motion on the grounds that CLPF has not shown that its interests are not being adequately represented by the existing parties, that the request to intervene is untimely, that CLPF does not have a substantial interest in this litigation because its interest is purely economic, and that the defendants would be substantially prejudiced if the motion were granted.

Rule 24(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides as follows:

On timely motion, the court must permit anyone to intervene who:
claims an interest relating to the property or transaction that is the subject of the action, and is so situated that disposing of the action may as a practical matter impair or impede the movant’s ability to protect its interest, unless existing parties adequately represent that interest.

A movant seeking to intervene as of right pursuant to Rule 24(a)(2) must show the following: (1) that the motion to intervene was timely; (2) that the movant has a substantial interest in the subject matter of the case; (3) that the movant’s ability to protect that substantial legal interest may be impaired in the absence of intervention; and (4) that the parties already before the Court may not adequately represent the proposed intervenor’s interest. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action v. Granholm, 501 F.3d 775, 779 (6th Cir.2007), petition for cert. denied, — U.S. -, 129 S.Ct. 35, 172 L.Ed.2d 239, 2008 WL 728200 (Oct. 6, 2008); Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless and Serv. Employees Int’l Union, Local 1199 v. Blackwell, 467 F.3d 999, 1007 (6th Cir. 2006); Providence Baptist Church v. Hillandale Comm., Ltd., 425 F.3d 309, 315 (6th Cir.2005); United States v. Michigan, 424 F.3d 438, 443 (6th Cir.2005); United States v. Tennessee, 260 F.3d 587, 591-92 (6th Cir.2001); Stupak-Thrall v. Glickman, 226 F.3d 467, 471 (6th Cir.2000); Jordan v. Michigan Conference of Teamsters Welfare Fund, 207 [364]*364F.3d 854, 862 (6th Cir.2000); Grutter v. Bollinger, 188 F.3d 394, 397-98 (6th Cir.1999); Michigan State AFL-CIO v. Miller, 103 F.3d 1240, 1245 (6th Cir.1997); United States v. Detroit Internat’l Bridge Co., 7 F.3d 497, 499 (6th Cir.1993); Cuyahoga Valley Ry. Co. v. Tracy, 6 F.3d 389, 395 (6th Cir.1993); Jansen v. City of Cincinnati, 904 F.2d 336, 340 (6th Cir.1990); Grubbs v. Norris, 870 F.2d 343, 345 (6th Cir.1989); Bradley v. Milliken, 828 F.2d 1186, 1191 (6th Cir.1987).

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Bluebook (online)
264 F.R.D. 360, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1280, 2010 WL 145775, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/beach-v-healthways-inc-tnmd-2010.