Crouch v. Saint Agnes Medical Center

District Court, E.D. California·Decided April 19, 2023·No. 1:22-cv-01527·Unknown

Opinion

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9 KATHRYN CROUCH, on behalf of herself Case No. 1:22-cv-01527-ADA-EPG and all others similarly situated, 10 Plaintiff, FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS, 11 RECOMMENDING THAT (1) v. PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO REMAND BE 12 GRANTED; (2) DEFENDANT’S REQUEST SAINT AGNES MEDICAL CENTER, FOR JUDICIAL NOTICE BE GRANTED; 13 AND (3) DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO Defendant. DISMISS BE DENIED AS MOOT 14 (ECF Nos. 15, 30, 34) 15 OBJECTIONS, IF ANY, DUE WITHIN

17 18 Defendant Saint Agnes Medical Center removed this putative class action from state 19 court, which alleges that Defendant violated California privacy and confidentiality statutes by 20 using a code analytics tool on its website, Facebook/Metal Pixel (Pixel), that shared Plaintiff 21 Kathryn Crouch’s private information with Facebook. Defendant alleges jurisdiction under 28 22 U.S.C. § 1442(a)(1), which is known as the federal officer removal statute. (ECF No. 1). 23 Plaintiff moves to remand this case to state court, arguing that Defendant was not 24 “acting under [a federal] officer” so as to provide subject matter jurisdiction over this case. 25 (ECF No. 30. p. 10 (citing § 1442(a)(1)). The presiding District Judge has referred the motion 26 for the preparation of findings and recommendations, and this Court held a hearing on the 27 motion on April 14, 2023. (ECF Nos. 31, 37). 28 As explained below, the federal officer removal statute does not apply in these 1 circumstances because Defendant has failed to show that it “acted under” a federal officer. 2 Thus, the Court will recommend that (1) Plaintiff’s motion to remand be granted; (2) 3 Defendant’s request for judicial notice in support of its opposition be granted; and (3) 4 Defendant’s pending motion to dismiss be denied as moot. See Azarbarzin v. Convatec Inc., 5 No. CV 12-9800 GAF AJWX, 2013 WL 80271, at *1 (C.D. Cal. Jan. 7, 2013) (noting that 6 remand of case mooted a defendant’s motion to dismiss). 8 A. Summary of the Complaint 9 Defendant removed this case from the Fresno County Superior Court on November 23, 10 2022. (ECF No. 1). Plaintiff filed an amended complaint on January 18, 2023, bringing 11 individual and putative class claims. (ECF No. 11). She alleges that Defendant uses the Pixel 12 analytics tool on its website to track certain information, including information a user submits 13 on its website. This information includes private medical data, which is thereafter shared with 14 Facebook through Pixel. 15 Plaintiff alleges that her (and the putative class’s) private medical information was 16 shared with Facebook without her consent by Defendant’s use of Pixel on its website. And this 17 unauthorized sharing led to violations of California’s Invasion of Privacy Act (Count I) and 18 Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (Count II). 19 B. Summary of the Basis for Removal 20 The notice of removal alleges jurisdiction under the federal officer removal statute. 21 (ECF No. 1). In support, Defendant states that, in 2004, President George W. Bush, issued an 22 executive order establishing a National Health Information Technology Coordinator, who was 23 tasked with implementing “a strategic plan to guide the nationwide implementation of 24 interoperable health information technology in both the public and private health care sectors 25 that will reduce medical errors, improve quality, and produce greater value for health care 26 expenditures.” (ECF No. 33, p. 7). This directive, in conjunction with other federal policy 27 enactments, led to the creation of the Meaningful Use Program, which, in part, provides 28 incentive payments to eligible healthcare providers who create patient portals to make 1 electronic health records available to users. Defendant states that it created its own patient 2 portal, “MySaintAgnes,” under the Meaningful Use Program “to give its patients the 3 opportunity to access their personal electronic health records” and “assisted the federal 4 government in carrying out this federal directive by increasing web traffic to Saint Agnes’ 5 website, which contains a link to a patient portal on Saint Agnes’ website.” (ECF No. 33, p. 6, 6 10). While Defendant does not directly state so, a document attached to its opposition regarding 7 compliance with the Meaningful Use Program shows that participation in the program is 8 voluntary. (ECF No. 33-1, p. 7 – “This program is an incentive program. Therefore, while 9 submission of information for this program is voluntary, failure to provide necessary 10 information will result in delay in an incentive payment or may result in denial of . . . 11 payment.”). 12 C. Overview of Parties’ Arguments 13 Plaintiff argues that the Court lacks jurisdiction under the federal officer removal statute 14 and thus should remand the case to state court. Specifically, Plaintiff was not acting under a 15 federal officer because it has no agency relationship with the Government, was not under its 16 control, did not fulfill a task the Government otherwise would have had to do, and would not 17 face a significant risk of state-court prejudice as a result of its conduct. (ECF No. 30, pp. 13-14; 18 ECF No. 35). In support of her argument, Plaintiff cites cases where courts concluded that a 19 healthcare provider’s participation in the Meaningful Use Program did not support jurisdiction 20 under the federal officer removal statute. See Doe v. Torrance Mem’l Med. Ctr., No. CV 23- 21 01237 DSF (JPRx), 2023 WL 2916548 (C.D. Cal. Apr. 12, 2023); Quinto v. Regents of Univ. of 22 California, No. 3:22-CV-04429-JD, 2023 WL 1448050 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 1, 2023); Doe, I v. BJC 23 Health Sys., No. 4:22 CV 919 RWS, 2023 WL 369427 (E.D. Mo. Jan. 10, 2023). 24 Defendant counters that, by building a patient portal, it was assisting the Government 25 “to fulfill a federal goal.” (ECF No. 33, p. 14). Moreover, the Government monitored its 26 compliance with the Meaningful Use Program, with Defendant “submitting detailed reports on 27 patient portal activities.” (Id.). And if not for Defendant, the Government would have had to 28 build the electronic records system, and it could face significant state-court prejudice for its 1 actions. (Id. at 19). Defendant asserts that these circumstances show that it was acting under a 2 federal officer for purposes of establishing jurisdiction under the federal officer removal 3 statute. In support of its argument, Defendant cites two cases where courts concluded that a 4 healthcare provider’s participation in the Meaningful Use Program supported jurisdiction under 5 the federal officer removal statute. See Doe v. ProMedica Health Sys., Inc., No. 3:20 CV 1581, 6 2020 WL 7705627 (N.D. Ohio Oct. 30, 2020); Doe I v. UPMC, No. 2:20-CV-359, 2020 WL 7 4381675 (W.D. Pa. July 31, 2020). 8 Attached to its opposition, Defendant offers the declaration of an employee, who 9 generally describes Defendant’s participation in the Meaningful Use Program. (ECF No. 33-1). 10 And in further support of its opposition, Defendant requests that the Court take judicial notice 11 of various public Government documents relating to the Meaningful Use Program, such as the 12 Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology’s 2011-2015 Federal 13 Health Information Technology Strategic Plan. (ECF No. 34). Plaintiff has not opposed the 14 request, and the Court will recommend that it be granted. See Lee v. City of Los Angeles, 250 15 F.3d 668, 690 (9th Cir. 2001) (noting that a court may take judicial notice of undisputed 16 matters of public record). 18 A. Motion to Remand 19 “If at any time before final judgment it appears that the district court lacks subject 20 matter jurisdiction, the case shall be remanded.” 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c).

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