López-Rivera v. Hosp. Auxilio Mutuo, Inc.

290 F. Supp. 3d 137
CourtUnited States District Court
DecidedNovember 28, 2017
DocketCASE NO. 17–1653 (GAG)
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 290 F. Supp. 3d 137 (López-Rivera v. Hosp. Auxilio Mutuo, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States District Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
López-Rivera v. Hosp. Auxilio Mutuo, Inc., 290 F. Supp. 3d 137 (usdistct 2017).

Opinion

GUSTAVO A. GELPI, United States District Judge

Plaintiff José A. López Rivera initiated this diversity tort action by filing a complaint against Hospital Auxilio Mutuo, Inc., a group of doctors at the hospital, the doctors' spouses and Conjugal Partnerships, the insurer SIMED, EM Physicians of Puerto Rico, PSC, and Admiral Insurance Company. (Docket No. 1). Two co-defendants, EM and Admiral Insurance, filed a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure arguing that the complaint fails to state a plausible claim for relief and the cause of action is time-barred. After reviewing the parties' submissions and applicable law, the Court DENIES EM and Admiral's motion to dismiss.

I. Standard of Review

When considering a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, the Court analyzes the complaint in a two-step process under the current context-based "plausibility" standard established by the Supreme Court. See FED. R. CIV. P. 12(b)(6), Schatz v. Republican State Leadership Comm., 669 F.3d 50, 55 (1st Cir. 2012) (citing Ocasio-Hernández v. Fortuño-Burset, 640 F.3d 1, 12 (1st Cir. 2011), which discusses Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) and Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) ). First, the Court must "isolate and ignore statements in the complaint that simply offer legal labels and conclusions or merely rehash cause-of-action elements." Id. A complaint does not need detailed factual allegations, but "[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice." Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678-79, 129 S.Ct. 1937. Second, the Court must then "take the complaint's well-[pleaded] (i.e., non-conclusory, non-speculative) facts as true, drawing all reasonable inferences in the pleader's favor, and see if they plausibly narrate a claim for relief." Schatz, 669 F.3d at 55. Plausible means something more than merely possible, and gauging a pleaded situation's plausibility is a context-specific job that compels the Court to draw on its judicial experience and common sense. Id. (citing Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678-79, 129 S.Ct. 1937 ). This "simply calls for enough facts to raise a reasonable expectation that discovery will reveal *141evidence of" the necessary element. Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556, 127 S.Ct. 1955.

"[W]here the well-pleaded facts do not permit the court to infer more than the mere possibility of misconduct, the complaint has alleged-but it has not 'show[n'-'that the pleader is entitled to relief.' " Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (quoting FED. R. CIV. P. 8(a)(2) ). If, however, the "factual content, so taken, 'allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged,' the claim has facial plausibility." Ocasio-Hernández, 640 F.3d at 12 (quoting Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937 ).

The test is somewhat different for 12(b)(6) motions based on a statute of limitations defense. The Court may grant a motion to dismiss based on a limitations defense "only if the facts, so derived and viewed in the requisite perspective, 'leave no doubt that an asserted claim is time-barred.' " Warren Freedenfeld Assocs., Inc. v. McTigue, 531 F.3d 38, 44 (1st Cir. 2008) (quoting LaChapelle v. Berkshire Life Ins. Co., 142 F.3d 507, 509 (1st Cir. 1998) (emphasis added)). In its assessment, the Court may rely on facts outside the pleadings, including facts susceptible to judicial notice, concessions in the plaintiff's response, and documents of undisputed authenticity. See Martinez-Rivera v. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, 812 F.3d 69 (1st Cir. 2016) ("The parties (and we) rely on facts outside the pleadings. But that is okay given the particular circumstances here."); Arturet-Vélez v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, Co.,

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290 F. Supp. 3d 137, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lopez-rivera-v-hosp-auxilio-mutuo-inc-usdistct-2017.