Gonzalez v. Thompson

• Court: District Court, E.D. Washington
• Decided: April 5, 2023
• Docket: 4:23-cv-05030
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1 Apr 05, 2023 2 SEAN F. MCAVOY, CLERK 3 4 5 6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 EASTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 8 9 ANDREA GONZALEZ, 10 Plaintiff, No. 4:23-CV-05030-SAB 11 v. 12 DEREK THOMPSON, DMD License 13 #DE00009229, THOMPSON DMD, 14 FERGUSON DDS, PPLC, DBA Affordable 15 Oral Surgery, Primary business name ORDER SUBSTITUTING 16 Affordable Dental Care, NPI #1104980283, a PARTIES FOR UNITED 17 Washington Corporation, Washington State STATES; GRANTING 18 UBI #603-122-377, DAVID ROBERTS, DDS, MOTION TO DISMISS 19 Licenseb#DE60870688, an associate dentist UNITED STATES; 20 employed by Thompson Ferguson, PLLC., a REMANDING ACTION 21 Washington Corporation, STEPHANIE LEE, 22 License #DE60972402, an associate dentist 23 employed by Thompson Ferguson, PLLC., a 24 Washington Corporation, OTHELLO 25 FAMILY DENTAL CENTER (140 East 26 Main – Othello, WA 99344, Washington, 27 NPI# 1891913042, JI CHOI – A dentist 28 formerly employed by Aleta Cheek, DDS, 1 License #DE00008338, an associate dentist 2 employed by OTHELLO FAMILY DENTAL 3 CENTER, DONALD SCHRACK, DDS, 4 License #DE60752170, an associate dentist 5 employed by Yakima Family Dental NPI 6 #170618925; LBN – DEREK THOMPSON 7 DMD, PATRICK FERGUSON DDS PLLC, 8 COLUMBIA BASIN HEALTH 9 ASSOCIATION, a Washington Non-Profit 10 Corporation, UBI #600 141 835, NPI 11 #1417116385. 12 Defendants. 13

14 15 Before the Court are Plaintiff’s Motion to Dismiss Claim Against Defendant 16 HHS, ECF No. 4; Plaintiff’s Motion for Remand, ECF No. 5; the United States’ 17 Notice of Substitution of United States for Federal Defendants Columbia Basin 18 Health Association (CBHA); Dr. Ji Choi, DDS; and Dr. Aleta Cheek, DDS, under 19 42 U.S.C. 233 (Federally supported health Centers Assistance Act FSHCCA) and 20 28 U.S.C. § 2679, ECF Nos. 8, 13; the United States’ Motion to Dismiss for Lack 21 of Jurisdiction, ECF No. 9, and the United States’ Motion for Summary Judgment, 22 ECF No. 12. The motions were heard without oral argument. 23 Plaintiff is represented by Jarrod Hays; Defendants Derek Thompson, 24 Thompson DMD Ferguson DDS PPLC, and David Roberts are represented by 25 Steven Dixson. Defendant Donald Schrack is represented by Natalie Heineman and 26 Nicole Morrow. The remaining Defendants are represented by James King and 27 Timothy Durkin. 28 // 1 Plaintiff originally filed this action for medical malpractice in Franklin 2 County Superior Court. The United States removed the action pursuant to 42 3 U.S.C. § 233(c) because Plaintiff’s Complaint involved allegations against 4 commissioned employees of a federally funded health facility who were deemed 5 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to have acting within the 6 course and scope of employment with Defendant Columbia Basin health 7 Association (CBHA). ECF No. 1. On March 7, 2023, the United States filed a 8 Motion for Substitution of Parties, ECF No. 8, and subsequently filed an Amended 9 Notice of Substitution of Parties, ECF No. 13, asking the Court to substitute it for 10 Defendants CBHA, Othello Family Dental Clinic, Dr. Ji Choi, DDS, and Dr. Aleta 11 Cheek, DDS. 12 Recognizing that her claims against the federal Defendants were now time- 13 barred, Plaintiff moved to dismiss the claims against the federal Defendants from 14 her Complaint. She then moved to remand the case back to Franklin County 15 Superior Court because the basis for federal jurisdiction was eliminated by the 16 dismissal of those Defendants. 17 Here, judicial economy would be better served by permitting Plaintiff to 18 dismiss the federal Defendants and remanding this action back to Franklin County 19 Superior Court. See Smith v. Lenches, 263 F.3d 972, 975 (9th Cir. 2001) (“A 20 district court should grant a motion for voluntary dismissal . . . unless a defendant 21 can show that it will suffer some plain legal prejudice as a result.”). The federal 22 Defendants have not shown that they will suffer any prejudice as a result. The 23 Court declines to exercise subject matter jurisdiction over the remaining state law 24 claims and Defendants. 25 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED: 26 1. The United States’ Notice of Substitution, ECF Nos. 8 and 13, are 27 GRANTED. 28 2. The Clerk of Court is directed to substitute the United States for the 1 following Defendants: Columbia Basin Health Association, Othello Family Dental Clinic, Dr. Ji Choi, DDS, and Dr. Aleta Cheek, DDS. 3 These Defendants are dismissed from this action with prejudice. 3. Plaintiff's Motion to Dismiss Claim Against Defendant HHS, ECF 5 No. 4, is GRANTED. The United States is dismissed from this action with prejudice. 4. Plaintiff's Motion to Remand, ECF No. 5, is GRANTED. The above- 8 captioned case is REMANDED to Franklin County Superior Court. 9 5. The United States’ Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction, ECF 10 No. 9, is DENIED, as moot. 11 6. The United States’ Motion for Summary Judgment, ECF No. 12, is 12 DENIED, as moot. 13 IT IS SO ORDERED. The District Court Executive is hereby directed to file this Order, provide copies to counsel, and close the file. 15 DATED this Sth day of April 2023. 16 17 18 19 hl Seton >] Stanley A. Bastian 9 Chief United States District Judge 23 24 25 26 27 28 ORDER SUBSTITUTING PARTIES FOR UNITED STATES; GRANTING