Dunbar v. Cox Health Alliance, LLC (In Re Dunbar)

446 B.R. 306, 2011 Bankr. LEXIS 812, 2011 WL 893507
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Arkansas
DecidedJanuary 21, 2011
DocketBankruptcy No. 4:10-bk-12463. Adversary No. 4:10-ap-1203
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 446 B.R. 306 (Dunbar v. Cox Health Alliance, LLC (In Re Dunbar)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dunbar v. Cox Health Alliance, LLC (In Re Dunbar), 446 B.R. 306, 2011 Bankr. LEXIS 812, 2011 WL 893507 (Ark. 2011).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO DISMISS

AUDREY R. EVANS, Bankruptcy Judge.

The Defendant’s Motion To Dismiss, brief in support, and the Plaintiffs response and brief, are before the Court. Defendant moves pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) and Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 7012 to dismiss the Plaintiffs Complaint Seeking Injunctive Relief, Damages, Disallowance of Claim and Other Relief in a Core Adversary Proceeding. The parties did not request oral argument. The Court has considered all the arguments of the parties, and for the reasons stated below, Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss is granted. This is a core proceeding pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 157(b)(2). The Court has jurisdiction to enter final orders in this case. 1

FACTS

The Plaintiff filed a voluntary petition for bankruptcy under Chapter 13 on April 6, 2010. On August 9, 2010, the Defendant filed a proof of claim in Plaintiffs case for $1,423.21 in medical services and goods. On August 12, 2010, the Plaintiff filed a Motion to Restrict Public Access to Proof of Claim of Cox Health (Claim #27) in her case-in-chief, and an Order Granting Motion to Restrict Public Access was entered the same day which caused the proof of claim at issue to be inaccessible to the public. 2

Plaintiff filed this adversary proceeding on September 29, 2010, seeking actual and punitive damages, attorneys’ fees and costs, and cancellation of the debt owed Defendant because the Defendant included the Plaintiffs date of birth and health information including medical procedure codes and treatment on its proof of claim in violation of the Court’s General Order 24 and Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Proce *309 dure 9037 which require creditors to redact such private information. The Plaintiff does not allege she has suffered any specific damage based on this disclosure of her private information, other than her emotional distress and attorneys’ fees for filing the motion to redact, but maintains that the Plaintiff could potentially suffer identity theft and that her medical records could be misused. Defendant moves to dismiss Plaintiffs complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted.

LEGAL STANDARD

The standard for dismissal under Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 7012(b)(6) is as follows:

A motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim will be granted only if “it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief.” Hishon v. King & Spalding, 467 U.S. 69, 73, 104 S.Ct. 2229, 2232 [81 L.Ed.2d 59] (1984); Hughes v. Rowe, 449 U.S. 5, 10, 101 S.Ct. 173, 176 [66 L.Ed.2d 163] (1980); Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 102 [2 L.Ed.2d 80] (1957).... In appraising the sufficiency of a complaint for Rule 12(b)(6) purposes, the court must take the well-pleaded allegations of the complaint as true, and construe the complaint, and all reasonable inferences arising therefrom, most favorably to the pleader. Westcott v. Omaha, 901 F.2d 1486, 1488 (8th Cir.1990); Morton v. Becker, 793 F.2d 185, 187 (8th Cir.1986). Nevertheless, con-elusory allegations of law and unwarranted inferences are insufficient to defeat a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. See Westcott, [901] F.2d at 1488 (citing Morgan v. Church’s Fried Chicken, 829 F.2d 10, 12 (6th Cir.1987)).

In re Russ, 1997 WL 188449, at *1-2 (Bankr.D.Minn. Apr.18, 1997). Further,

When a dispositive issue of law precludes a plaintiff from being entitled to relief regardless of the allegations of fact, the plaintiff might prove, Rule 12(b)(6) authorizes a court to dismiss that plaintiffs claims. Neitzke v. Williams 490 U.S. 319, 326-327, 109 S.Ct. 1827, 104 L.Ed.2d 338 (1989); Hishon v. King & Spalding, 467 U.S. 69, 73, 104 S.Ct. 2229, 81 L.Ed.2d 59 (1984). In order to streamline litigation and dispense with needless discovery and fact-finding, courts are required to dismiss legal claims that are destined to fail regardless of whether they are nearly viable. Neitzke, 490 U.S. at 326-27, 109 S.Ct. 1827 (stating “[n]othing in Rule 12(b)(6) confines its sweep to claims of law which are obviously insupportable.... [A] claim must be dismissed, without regard to whether it is based on an outlandish legal theory or on a close but ultimately unavailing one.”).

Ray v. American Airlines, Inc., 2008 WL 3992644, *3 (W.D.Ark.2008).

DISCUSSION

In moving to dismiss Plaintiffs complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, Defendant asserts: (1) that an objection to claim pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 105(a) is not a recognized cause of action, and that in any case, the filing of an unredacted proof of claim is not cause for disallowing an otherwise valid claim; (2) that there is no private right of action affording Plaintiff relief under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) (a point Plaintiff concedes); (3) that federal procedural rules requiring creditors to redact private data do not create private rights of action; (4) that the appropriate remedy for a violation of Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 9037 is redaction or restriction to *310 public access rather than damages, and the claim at issue in this case has already been restricted; and (5) that Plaintiff failed to plead a sufficient invasion of privacy claim under Arkansas law. Each cause of action will be addressed below except the HIPAA cause of action since Plaintiff concedes in her Complaint and in her response to the Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss that there is no cause of action arising from a violation of HIPAA.

Plaintiff’s First Cause of Action: Objection to Claim

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

In re Lunden
524 B.R. 410 (D. Massachusetts, 2015)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
446 B.R. 306, 2011 Bankr. LEXIS 812, 2011 WL 893507, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dunbar-v-cox-health-alliance-llc-in-re-dunbar-areb-2011.