Meyer v. Health Management Associates, Inc.

841 F. Supp. 2d 1262, 2012 WL 164930, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6529
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedJanuary 20, 2012
DocketCase No. 11-cv-62479
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 841 F. Supp. 2d 1262 (Meyer v. Health Management Associates, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Meyer v. Health Management Associates, Inc., 841 F. Supp. 2d 1262, 2012 WL 164930, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6529 (S.D. Fla. 2012).

Opinion

ORDER ON MOTION TO REMAND

ROBERT N. SCOLA, JR., District Judge.

THIS MATTER is before the Court on the Motion for Remand and Request for Award of Attorney’s Fees and Costs [ECF No. 7], filed by Plaintiff Paul Meyer. The Court has carefully considered the arguments set forth in the Motion, the Response [ECF No. 16], and the Reply [ECF No. 23], as well as the pertinent legal authorities. For the reasons that follow, the Motion will be granted in part. This case shall be remanded to state court; however, the Court will not award fees and costs to Meyer’s counsel.

Background

I. The Complaint

On October 19, 2011, Plaintiff Paul Meyer filed this lawsuit in state court, alleging a single state law cause of action for retaliatory discharge under Florida’s Whistle-blower Act, Florida Statutes section 448.102. In the Amended Complaint, filed on November 16, 2011, Meyer alleges he was unlawfully discharged from his role as a compliance officer after he uncovered and internally reported widespread Medicare fraud at certain hospitals operated by Defendants Health Management Associates, Inc. and Hospital Management Services of Florida, Inc. (collectively, “HMA”). See Am. Compl. ¶ 17 [ECF No. 1-1].

The Amended Complaint alleges that Medicare law requires hospitals to disclose all known errors and omissions in claims for Medicare reimbursement and that failure to do so is a violation of law, citing 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b(a)(3). Meyer, a retired FBI agent, became HMA’s director of corporate compliance in January 2010. In that capacity, he visited various hospitals for the purpose of investigating and monitoring compliance with applicable law, including the law governing reimbursement to hospitals under Medicare. During his visits, Meyer allegedly discovered fraudulent Medicare billing at four HMA facilities relating to the improper admission of certain patients. Upon discovery, he internally reported these alleged violations to his superiors at HMA. In August 2010, however, Meyer determined that “no meaningful action” had been taken by HMA to rectify the alleged fraudulent billing practices he had identified. Am. Compl. ¶ 17. This prompted Meyer to send to his superiors detailed memoranda outlining the Medicare violations at the four HMA hospitals.

In response to Meyer’s written memoranda, HMA allegedly took immediate steps to change his job duties and to remove him from overseeing compliance at the four facilities in question. Thereafter, in January 2011, HMA allegedly changed Meyer’s responsibilities altogether, eliminating his compliance audit duties and stonewalling him from any information on an investigation into the supposedly fraud[1265]*1265ulent activities he had discovered and reported.

Nevertheless, Meyer continued to inquire as to whether HMA had complied with its obligations to disclose the alleged violations pursuant to applicable law. HMA did not provide him with any substantive information in response to these inquiries, however. Concerned with what he perceived to be HMA’s lack of appropriate action, Meyer “continually demanded to know” whether HMA had taken action upon his disclosures and, if so, what sort of action. He made clear that if HMA had not properly reported its violations, Meyer himself would disclose the company’s allegedly unlawful activities and policies to the appropriate governmental authorities. On September 6, 2011, Meyer claims he was fired in response to his ultimatum.

II. Removal to Federal Court

On November 18, 2011, HMA removed this lawsuit to federal court on the basis of federal question jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1381. The Notice of Removal [ECF No. 1] asserts that “the Amended complaint establishes federal question jurisdiction because Plaintiffs Whistleblower claim, as pled, necessarily raises substantive and disputed issues of federal law, which a federal court can entertain without disturbing any congressionally approved balance of federal and state judicial responsibilities,” citing Grable & Sons Metal Products, Inc. v. Darue Engineering & Manufacturing, 545 U.S. 308, 125 S.Ct. 2363, 162 L.Ed.2d 257 (2005). See Not. Rem. ¶ 8.

HMA contends that “Grable requires that the federal issue be actually disputed and substantial,” and that “[t]hese requirements are met here, as this case ‘implicates the complex reimbursement schemes created by Medicare lav/ and will require a determination of whether HMA complied with its reporting obligations under Medicare.” See id. ¶ 14. According to HMA, a substantial and disputed issue of federal law is implicated by this lawsuit because Meyer will have to establish that HMA actually violated the Medicare laws.1 Thus, HMA argues, federal question jurisdiction exists under the authority of Grable & Sons.

III. Motion to Remand

On December 2, 2011, Meyer filed the instant Motion to Remand, claiming that this action was improperly removed to federal court. Meyer points out that he does not seek relief under any federal statute and that no diversity jurisdiction exists here. He further asserts that this case does not qualify for federal jurisdiction pursuant to Grable & Sons because it does not concern a pure issue of federal law, it does not involve any federal actors, and the underlying determination of whether any violation occurred is fact-bound and situation-specific. Therefore, according to Meyer, the actual and disputed federal issue in this case—that is, whether HMA violated the Medicare laws through the improper admission of certain patients and failure to report same—is not, as Grable & Sons requires, “substantial.”

In addition, Meyer maintains that the exercise of federal jurisdiction in this matter would upset the congressionally-ap[1266]*1266proved balance of responsibilities between the state and federal judiciaries, as it would expand federal question jurisdiction to include any and every case in which a state law whistleblower plaintiff accused his employer of violating some aspect of federal law. According to Meyer, this would result in a drastic and unintended expansion of the narrow rule established in Grable & Sons.

Legal Standard

“It is axiomatic that the jurisdiction of the federal courts is limited, with its scope defined by the Constitution and by statute." See B, Inc. v. Miller Brewing Co., 663 F.2d 545, 548 (5th Cir.1981). "[B]ecause a federal court is powerless to act beyond its statutory grant of subject matter jurisdiction, a court must zealously insure that jurisdiction exists over a case[.]" Smith v. GTE Corp., 236 F.3d 1292, 1299 (11th Cir.2001).

“On a motion to remand, the removing party bears the burden of showing the existence of federal subject matter jurisdiction." Conn. State Dental Ass’n v. Anthem Health Plans, Inc., 591 F.3d 1337, 1343 (11th Cir.2009).

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Bluebook (online)
841 F. Supp. 2d 1262, 2012 WL 164930, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6529, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/meyer-v-health-management-associates-inc-flsd-2012.