ML Healthcare Services, LLC v. Publix Super Markets, Inc.

881 F.3d 1293
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedFebruary 7, 2018
Docket15-13851
StatusPublished
Cited by71 cases

This text of 881 F.3d 1293 (ML Healthcare Services, LLC v. Publix Super Markets, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
ML Healthcare Services, LLC v. Publix Super Markets, Inc., 881 F.3d 1293 (11th Cir. 2018).

Opinion

JULIE CARNES, Circuit Judge

This is a personal injury case arising from plaintiff Robin Houston’s slip and fall at a Publix Supermarket operated by Defendant. Following an eight-day trial, the jury' returned a verdict in favor of Defendant. Plaintiff and third-party ML Healthcare appeal, claiming that the district court erred by requiring ML Healthcare to produce, and then by admitting at trial, evidence of collateral source payments made by ML Healthcare' on Plaintiffs behalf. Plaintiff further contends that the district court erred by denying her motion for sanctions based on Defendant’s alleged spoliation of evidence. We find no error, and thus AFFIRM the entry of judgment in Defendant’s favor.

BACKGROUND

On July 24, 2012, Plaintiff was shopping at a Publix Supermarket in McDonough, Georgia, when she slipped and fell in the dairy aisle. Plaintiff sued Defendant in state court, alleging that she had slipped on liquid that had been left in the aisle and that her subsequent fall had caused serious medical injuries. Defendant removed the case to federal court on the ground of diversity jurisdiction. Following an eight-day trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Defendant. ■

During the litigation, Defendant conducted discovery concerning the relationship between Plaintiff, her treating doctors, and third-party ML Healthcare. Through its discovery, Defendant learned that ML Healthcare is a “litigation investment” company that contracts with doctors to provide medical care for injured people with viable tort claims who lack medical insurance.’ Pursuant to the contracts, ML Healthcare purchases at a discounted rate from these physicians the medical debt that the putative plaintiffs incur during their treatment. But the contract also allows ML Healthcare 1 the right to later recover the full cost of the medical care provided out of any subsequent tort settlement or judgment the treated individuals receive. The discovery ■ showed that ML Healthcare had entered into such agreements with Plaintiff and the treating doctors who would testify at her trial concerning the extent and cause of her medical injuries.

Defendant sought to introduce at trial evidence of the relationship described above to show that Plaintiffs doctors were biased in their testimony and that Plaintiffs claimed medical expenses were unreasonable. In connection with its efforts, Defendant served subpoenas on ML Healthcare requiring it to provide testimony at trial. Plaintiff and ML Healthcare objected to the admission of such evidence, arguing that it was unfairly prejudicial and barred by Georgia’s collateral source rule. Plaintiff filed a motion in limine to exclude the evidence related to ML Healthcare, and ML Healthcare moved to quash the subpoenas it had received. The district court denied Plaintiffs motion in limine, ruling that the ML Healthcare evidence could be admitted for the limited purposes identified, by Defendant. ■ The court also denied in part ML Healthcare’s motion to quash, requiring ML Healthcare to appear and provide evidence at trial.

Plaintiff and ML Healthcare appeal the district court’s rulings, on the motion in limine and the motion to quash. In addition, Plaintiff appeals the district court’s denial of her motion for sanctions based on Defendant’s alleged spoliation of evidence: specifically, its destruction of video from the McDonough Publix for all but the one hour immediately surrounding Plaintiffs accident.

DISCUSSION

I. Standard of Review

We review the evidentiary, and sanctions rulings at issue, in this appeal under the abuse of discretion standard. See United States v. Clay, 832 F.3d 1259, 1314 (11th Cir. 2016) (“The district court has broad discretion to determine the relevance and admissibility of any given'piece of evidence.” (internal quotation marks omitted)); Flury v. Daimler Chrysler Corp., 427 F.3d 939, 943 (11th Cir. 2005) (“We review the district court’s' decision regarding spoliation sanctions for abuse of discretion.”). Likewise, we apply the abuse of discretion, standard to the district court’s denial in part of ML Healthcare’s motion to quash. See In re Hubbard, 803 F.3d 1298, 1307 (11th Cir. 2015) (“We review a district court’s decision on whether to quash a subpoena only for an abuse of discretion.”). Applying that standard, we will only reverse if we find that “the district court has made a clear error of judgment, or has applied the wrong legal standard.” Eghnayem v. Boston Sci Corp., 873 F.3d 1304, 1313 (11th Cir. 2017) (internal quotation marks omitted).

II. Impeachment of Treating Physicians with Evidence Concerning ML Healthcare’s Payments

A. Collateral Source Rule and District Court Ruling

When a tort plaintiff has been compensated by her health insurer, or other non-defendants, for injuries that have been caused by the defendant, the question arises whether the plaintiff can recover those expenses for which she has already been reimbursed. The collateral source rule provides that the plaintiff is entitled to recover those already-reimbursed expenses. Georgia follows the collateral source rule, which:

gives [a plaintiff] the right to recover damages undiminished by collateral benefits. It refuses credit to the benefit of a tortfeasor of money or services received by the plaintiff in reparation of the injury or damage caused which emanate from sources other than the tortfeasor.

Polito v. Holland, 258 Ga. 54, 55, 365 S.E.2d 273 (1988). “The collateral source rule, stated simply, is that the receipt of benefits or mitigation of loss from sources other than the defendant will not operate to diminish the plaintiffs recovery of damages.” Id. (citation omitted). “If a windfall must be had, it will inure to the benefit of the injured party rather than relieve the wrongdoer of full responsibility for his wrongdoing.” 1 Broda v. Dziwura, 286 Ga. 507, 508, 689 S.E.2d 319 (2010).

Given this prohibition against a credit to the defendant for expenses already recovered by the plaintiff, it follows that evidence of collateral benefits is inadmissible “if the only proposition for which it is offered is in reduction of damages, because it is then offered to help prove a proposition which is not a matter in issue.” Polito, 258 Ga. at 56, 365 S.E.2d 273. On the other hand, the Georgia Supreme Court has recognized that “there may be another issue in a case to which evidence of collateral benefits is material.” Id. When that happens and the evidence is admitted for that other purpose, the court should nonetheless “charge the jury that collateral benefits shall not reduce damages the tortfeasor is otherwise liable to pay.” Id.

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

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
881 F.3d 1293, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ml-healthcare-services-llc-v-publix-super-markets-inc-ca11-2018.