Medtronic, Inc. v. Ernst

182 F. Supp. 3d 925, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 56140, 2016 WL 1651801
CourtDistrict Court, D. Minnesota
DecidedApril 26, 2016
DocketCivil No. 16-244 (JRT/HB)
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 182 F. Supp. 3d 925 (Medtronic, Inc. v. Ernst) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Medtronic, Inc. v. Ernst, 182 F. Supp. 3d 925, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 56140, 2016 WL 1651801 (mnd 2016).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

JOHN R. TUNHEIM, Chief Judge, United States District Court

Plaintiffs Medtronic, Inc. and Medtronic USA, Inc. (collectively “Medtronic”) bring this action against their former employee, Amanda Ernst, and her new employer, Nevro Corp. (“Nevro”). Medtronic alleges that Ernst breached her employment agreement by accepting a position at Nev-ro, and that Nevro tortuously interfered with the agreement by hiring her. Med-tronic brought this action in state court, where the state court judge granted its request for a temporary restraining order (“TRO”), enjoining Ernst from working at Nevro. Nevro then removed to federal court. Medtronic now moves for remand, and if remand is not granted, for a TRO and expedited discovery. Because the Court finds that Nevro is not a closely-related party bound by the forum-selection clause in Ernst’s agreement, it will deny Medtronic’s motion for remand. Also, because the Court finds that Medtronic has not shown sufficient likelihood of irreparable harm to justify the extreme remedy of a TRO, the Court will deny its motion for a TRO and expedited discovery.

BACKGROUND

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

A. The Parties

Medtronic is a medical technology company. (Deck of John T. Duffey (“Duffey Decl.”), Ex. A (“Draper Deck”) ¶ 3, Feb. 8, 2016, Docket No. 15.) Ernst worked on ¡Medtronic’s Neuromodulation business, which “develops and markets implantable medical devices used to treat diseases and conditions involving the.nervous system,” and includes “Medtronic’s largest-selling pain therapy device[,] ,.. a neurostimulator, also known as a ‘spinal cord stimulator’ or ‘SCS’ device.” (Id. ¶¶ 3-4.)

■ Nevro is one of Medtronic’s global competitors in the neurostimulation-device market. (Id. ¶7.) Nevro’s only product, Senza, is a high frequency SCS device, approved for sale' in the United States in May 2015; it has been available in Europe since November 2010 and in Australia since 2011. (Deck of David Caraway (“Caraway Deck” ¶¶ 7, 9, Feb. 16, 2016, Docket No. 38; Deck of Katherine Neuenfeldt (“Neuenfeldt Deck”) ¶6, Feb. 17, 2016, Docket No. 41.) Senza operates at a higher frequency than other SCS devices and it does not produce “paresthesia” unlike other SCS devices with lower frequencies. (Neuenfeldt Deck -¶ 6.) Nevro is the market leader in Australia, with approximately one third, of the market share, whereas Medtronic is considered fourth out of four companies in the Australian market. (Id. ¶ 15.)

B. Ernst’s Employment at Medtronic

Ernst first worked at Medtronic as a summer intern in 2008. (Draper Decl. ¶ 9.) In July 2009, after Ernst earned her MBA, Medtronic hired her to their Leadership Development Rotational Program (“LDRP”). (Id. ¶ 9.) Within the LDRP, Ernst worked in Medtronic’s Cardiac Rhythm Disease Management business, and then in Medtronic’s Neuromodulation business. (Id. ¶¶ 10-11.) Ernst did not work with SCS products.in. either of these rotations. (Decl. of Amanda Ernst (“Ernst [928]*928Decl.”) ¶¶ 6-7, Feb. 16, 2016, Docket No. 37.)

In July 2012, Ernst left the LDRP and accepted a position as a Principal Market Development Specialist within the Neuro-modulation business. (Draper Decl. ¶ 11; id., Exs. 6, 7.) In this position she “worked as a pain market development manager, developing and executing a marketing strategy to grow Medtronic’s TDD pain therapy business.” (Id. ¶ 11; id., Ex. 4.) But, she did not work with SCS products. (Ernst Decl. ¶ 8.)

In May 2014, Ernst accepted a promotion to her final position at Medtronic. Medtronic . describes Ernst’s title as “Neuromodulation Marketing Program Manager,” which is documented on her offer letter. (Draper Decl. ¶ 12; id., Ex. 8.) According to Medtronic, Ernst’s job description was as follows:

Develop customer segment strategy and facilitate targeted customer engagement processes and plans for Pain Stim and TDD therapies. Champion program participation and' execution in alignment with pan-neuro stakeholders in-house and with field teams. Serve as lead relations manager for coordinating PAVE system utilization and optimizing value to organization. Lead strategy and execution plans for key priority business initiatives.

(Id., Ex. 11.) Ernst contends that her new position was actually located within the “Customer Collaboration Group” and that her title was “Physician Collaboration Manager.” (Ernst Decl. ¶ 9.) According to Ernst, the other title was used only because the human resources department “did not have a separate category for the Customer Collaboration Group because it was a new department.” (Id.) Ernst’s employment review and her Linkedln page both reflect the title of “Physician Collaboration Manager.” (Draper Decl., Exs. 4, 12.) Additionally, the job description provided by Medtronic is for a “Customer Relations Manager” or “Customer Relations Strategy Specialist,” not for a “Marketing Program Manager.” (Id., Ex. 11.)

Medtronic contends that Ernst “worked on marketing, key physician collaboration, formal/contracted engagements, and advocacy development for Medtronic’s SCS and TDD pain therapy devices.” (Id. ¶ 12.) Ernst describes her position as “focused on building and maintaining relationships with pain fellows by designing successful collaborations that would enhance the fellows’ experience with Medtronic.” (Ernst Decl. ¶ 10.) In this role, Ernst gained exposure to SCS so that she could “speak intelligently about it,” but she was “never as familiar with SCS as [she] was with TDD,” and she “never took the training for SCS.” (Ernst Decl. ¶ 12.) She states that “the plan was to expand the Group to work with more advanced practice and thought leader physicians.” (Id. ¶ 10.)

Ernst states that her position “was entirely customer-focused.” (Id. ¶ 13.) She had two primary areas of responsibility. First, she “was responsible for supporting sales of Medtronic’s pain management therapies ... by strengthening relationships and providing customized customer service through coordinated collaborations with physicians in the United States.” (Id. ¶ 14.) In this role she helped match physicians with Medtronic projects. (Id.) Second, she was “the main point of contact within Medtronic for a group of 30 or more U.S. physicians.” (Id. ¶ 16.) She provided customer service and fielded questions from those physicians by “get[ting] answers from internal Medtronic teams or connecting] them directly to the experts.” (Id.)

Ernst also contends that her work with Medtronic was exclusively focused on the U.S. market. (Id. ¶ 20.) She “never did any global work at Medtronic as a Physician [929]*929Collaboration Manager and [has] never done any global work relating to SCS.” (Id.) Additionally, Ernst states that Med-tronic had a global marketing group, and that she was never a part of it. (Id.) In her 2015 employment review, Ernst filled out the field relating to global activities by stating, “[m]y role is primarily US focused and I have not approached it with a more global lens.” (Draper Decl., Ex. 12 at 299.) Her supervisor wrote in response that he would “look for opportunities to extend experience and value globally.” (Id., Ernst Decl. ¶20). However, according to Ernst, he “never did find a global opportunity.” (Ernst Decl. ¶ 20.)

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182 F. Supp. 3d 925, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 56140, 2016 WL 1651801, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/medtronic-inc-v-ernst-mnd-2016.