Peacock v. AARP, Inc.

181 F. Supp. 3d 430, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 90555, 2016 WL 3792711
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Texas
DecidedFebruary 12, 2016
DocketCivil Action No. 3:13-cv-00459
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 181 F. Supp. 3d 430 (Peacock v. AARP, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Peacock v. AARP, Inc., 181 F. Supp. 3d 430, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 90555, 2016 WL 3792711 (S.D. Tex. 2016).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

GEORGE C. HANKS, JR., UNITED' STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

On December 23, 2013, Plaintiffs filed their original complaint alleging that they represent a class of senior citizens and disabled individuals in the State of Texas who were “forced into paying an illegal allowance fee for services relating to group Medicare supplemental health insurance.” Dkt. 1. Defendants moved to dismiss that original complaint under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). Dkt. 26. The motion to dismiss was granted by' United States District Judge Keith P. Ellison, but Plaintiffs were given leave to amend. Dkt. 64.

Plaintiffs have now filed their First Amended Complaint—58 pages long with 370 pages of exhibits. Dkt. 66. Defendants have moved again to dismiss this Amended Complaint under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). Dkt. 71.

ANALYSIS

A. Plaintiffs’ First Amended Complaint

At the heart of Plaintiffs’ suit is a commercial relationship between AARP and [433]*433the UnitedHealth Care Defendants, and Plaintiffs allege that Defendants entered into a joint to create a group health insurance plan that (1) illegally charges an improper monthly fee to its group plan members, and (2) fails to truthfully disclose this fee to governmental authorities and members of the insurance plan. Accordingly, Plaintiffs allege that Defendants have violated several provisions of the Texas Insurance Code as well as the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act (“DTPA”).1

There are, two, named plaintiffs in the case. The first, Dr. John Milton Peacock, is a Texas resident who purchased the insurance at issue in 2007 and then made monthly payments through December 2012, when he allowed the insurance to cease. The second, Robbie Cowan, is also a Texas resident who purchased the insurance at issue in 2002, and who continues to be a group plan member, making monthly payments. Plaintiffs allege that the monthly fee charged by AARP and the United-Health Defendants has varied over time, beginning at 3.25% in 2003 and increasing to 4.90% in 2014.

B. Applicable Standards

a. Dismissal Under Rule 12(b)(6)

A motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure is viewed with disfavor and is rarely granted. Leal v. McHugh, 731 F.3d 405, 410 (5th Cir.2013) (citing Turner v. Pleasant, 663 F.3d 770, 775 (5th Cir.2011)). In deciding such a motion, the court must “accept all well-pleaded facts as true, viewing them in the light most favorable to the plaintiff.” In re Katrina Canal Breaches Litig., 495 F.3d 191, 205-06 (5th Cir.2007). To state a claim upon which relief may be granted, plaintiff must plead “enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face,” Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S, 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007), and must plead those facts with enough specificity “to raise a right to relief above the speculative level,” id. at 555, 127 S.Ct, 1955. “A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009). “The plausibility standard is not akin to a ‘probability requirement,’ but it asks for more than a sheer possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully.” Id. “A claim for relief is implausible on its face when ‘the well-pleaded facts do not permit the court to infer more than the mere possibility of misconduct.’ ” Harold H. Huggins Realty, Inc. v. FNC, Inc., 634 F.3d 787, 796 (5th Cir.2011) (quoting Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937).

While, under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2), a complaint need not contain detailed factual allegations, the plaintiff must allege more than labels and conclusions, and, while a court must accept all of the plaintiffs allegations as true, it is “ ‘not bound to accept as true a legal conclusion couched as a factual allegation.’ ” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955). A threadbare or formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory [434]*434statements, will not suffice. See id. But, “to survive a motion to dismiss” under Twombly and Iqbal, a plaintiff need only “plead facts sufficient to show” that the claims asserted have “substantive plausibility” by stating “simply, concisely, and directly events” that Plaintiff contends entitle him or her to relief. Johnson v. City of Shelby, Miss., 574 U.S. -, 135 S.Ct. 346, 347, 190 L.Ed.2d 309 (2014) (per curiam) (citing Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2)-(3), (d)(1), (e)).

b. Scope of Review

A court cannot look beyond the pleadings in deciding a Rule 12(b)(6) motion. Spivey v. Robertson, 197 F.3d 772, 774 (5th Cir.1999). Pleadings in the Rule 12(b)(6) context include attachments to the complaint. In re Katrina Canal Breaches Litig., 495 F.3d 191, 205 (5th Cir.2007). Documents “attache[d] to a motion to dismiss are considered to be part of the pleadings, if they are referred to in the plaintiffs complaint and are central to her claim.” Collins v. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, 224 F.3d 496, 498-99 (5th Cir.2000) (quoting Venture Assocs. Corp. v. Zenith Data Sys. Corp., 987 F.2d 429, 431 (7th Cir.1993)). “Although the [United States Court of Appeals for the] Fifth Circuit has not articulated a test for determining when a document is central to a plaintiffs claims, the case law suggests that documents are central when they are necessary to establish an element of one of the plaintiffs claims. Thus, when a plaintiffs claim is based on the terms of a contract, the documents constituting the contract are central to the plaintiffs claim.” Kaye v. Lone Star Fund V (U.S.), L.P., 453 B.R. 645, 662 (N.D.Tex.2011). “However, if a document referenced in the plaintiffs complaint is merely evidence of an element of the plaintiffs claim, then the court may not incorporate it into the complaint.” Id. Additionally, “it is clearly proper in deciding a 12(b)(6) motion to take judicial notice of matters of public record.” Norris v. Hearst Trust, 500 F.3d 454, 461 n. 9 (5th Cir. 2007); accord Tellabs, Inc. v. Makor Issues & Rights, Ltd.,

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181 F. Supp. 3d 430, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 90555, 2016 WL 3792711, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/peacock-v-aarp-inc-txsd-2016.