Rishell v. Medical Card System, Inc.

982 F. Supp. 2d 142, 2013 WL 6019212, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 163123
District Court, D. Puerto Rico·Decided November 14, 2013·No. Civil No. 13-1113 (FAB)·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

BE SOSA, District Judge.

Before the Court are defendants Medical Card System, Inc.’s (“MCS”) and Maritza I. Munich’s (“Munich”) motion to dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) (“Rule 12(b)(6)”); defendants’ supplemental motion to dismiss; and all relevant replies and surreplies. (Docket Nos. 8, 20, 26, 31, & 36.) Having considered the parties’ filings, the Court GRANTS defendant MCS’ motion to dismiss for the reasons discussed below.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Procedural History

On April 13, 2012, plaintiff Mark Rishell (“plaintiff Rishell”) and plaintiff Diana Rishell (“plaintiff Diana Rishell”) (collectively “plaintiffs”), filed a complaint seeking to enforce a bylaw that required defendant MCS to prepay plaintiff Rishell’s attorney’s fees. Civil No. 12-1249 (“the Advancement Action”). Plaintiff Rishell filed claims for breach of bylaws and breach of an employment agreement, as well as a request for declaratory judgment and a claim for fees on fees in accordance with MCS’ bylaws. Id. Plaintiff Diana Rishell sought tort damages pursuant to article 1802 of the Puerto Rico Civil Code. Id. Ruling on defendants’ motion to dismiss, the Court dismissed plaintiffs’ claims with prejudice on February 28, 2013. Plaintiffs appealed this ruling on March 29, 2013.1

On February 7, 2013, plaintiffs filed this action against MCS and Munich seeking (1) enforcement of a different bylaw requiring defendant MCS to “indemnify” plaintiff Rishell for the legal fees and expenses connected to the investigation raised in the first complaint, and (2) to recover damages against both defendants in tort. (Docket No. 1.) Defendants moved to dismiss plaintiffs’ claims on April 24, 2013. (Docket No. 8.) On June 3, 2013, plaintiffs filed an amended complaint adding a claim for indemnification of legal fees incurred by Holland & Knight in relation to a Puerto Rico state court action against plaintiff Rishell (the “State Court Action”). (Docket No. 11.) Defendants filed a supplemental motion to dismiss on July 11, 2013 (Docket No. 20), plaintiffs filed an opposition on August 5, 2013 (Docket No. 26), defendants filed an opposition on August 23, 2013 (Docket No. 31), and plaintiffs filed a surreply on September 9, 2013. (Docket No. 36.)

[145]*145Plaintiffs invoke subject-matter jurisdiction over the Puerto Rico claims pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(1) because the matter in controversy exceeds $75,000 and there is complete diversity of citizenship between the defendants (MCS is a Puerto Rico corporation and Munich is a resident of Puerto Rico) and the plaintiffs (Mark and Diana Rishell are residents of Florida). (Docket No. 11 at ¶¶ 3-4.)

B. Factual Background

For the purposes of the motion to dismiss, the Court treats all “properly pled factual allegations” as true and draws all reasonable inferences in plaintiffs favor. Ocasio-Hemandez v. Fortuño-Burset, 640 F.3d 1, 11-12 (1st Cir.2011).

In 2007, defendant MCS employed plaintiff Rishell as its Chief Financial Officer, and it subsequently promoted him to Chief Executive Officer. (Docket No. 11 at p. 2.) In October of 2011, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico began investigating defendant MCS. Id. at p. 6. They targeted only a few officers, including plaintiff Rishell, in their investigation (hereinafter “the Investigation”). Id.

On October 14, 2011, Munich — general counsel for MCS — met with Rishell regarding the Investigation and informed him that “MCS was going to take care of engaging an attorney for him,” that she and MCS “were going to look after his best interests and that MCS would be covering all legal expenses associated with the Investigation.” Id. at p. 6. Munich subsequently identified and negotiated to retain Francisco Rebollo-Casuldec on plaintiff Rishell’s behalf. Id. at p. 7. On November 7, 2011, Rebollo and Munich signed a professional services agreement, then submitted the agreement to plaintiff Rishell for his signature. Id. Rishell, relying on Munich to protect his interests, did not read the agreement prior to signing it. Id. Diming this process, no MCS representative ever indicated to plaintiff Rishell that MCS’s commitment to cover Rishell’s expenses associated with the Investigation had any conditions. Id. No MCS representative sent plaintiff Rishell an undertaking or informed him that he would lose his rights to advancements under bylaw 6.2 if he did not provide an undertaking. Id. at p. 8.

In October of 2011, MCS executed plaintiff Rishell’s employment agreement, with an effective date of June 1, 2011. Id. at p. 8. As part of plaintiff Rishell’s employment agreement, defendant MCS agreed to maintain indemnification provisions in its bylaws that were “no less favorable than those in effect as of the effective date of [the contract].” Id. at p. 8. MCS drafted the bylaws. Id. at p. 5. The relevant provision of the bylaw covering indemnification, the applicability of which is disputed in this case, states:

The Corporation shall indemnify and hold harmless, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law as it presently exists or may hereafter be amended, any person who was or is made or is threatened to be made a party or who is otherwise involved in any action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative (a “proceeding”) by reason of the fact that he, or a person for whom he or she is the legal representative, is or was a director or officer of the Corporation or is or was serving at the request of the Corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation or of a partnership, joint venture, trust, enterprise or nonprofit entity, including service with respect to employee benefit plans, against all liability and loss suffered and expenses (including attorneys’ [146]*146fees) reasonably incurred by such person, but only if such person acted in good faith and in a manner which he or she reasonably believed was in the best interests of the Corporation; or not opposed to such interests and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, such person did not have reasonable cause to believe that his or her conduct was illegal. The Corporation shall be required to indemnify a person in connection with a proceeding (or part thereof) initiated by such person only if the proceeding (or part thereof) was authorized by the Board of Directors of the Corporation, but only if such person acted in good faith and in a manner which he or she reasonably believed was in the best interests of the Corporation, or not opposed to such interests.

(Docket No. 1-2 at p. E-8 sec. 6.1.)

Additionally, the bylaws contain a section providing for prepayment of legal expenses, the applicability of which was disputed in the Advancement Action, which states:

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Rishell v. Medical Card System, Inc., 982 F. Supp. 2d 142, 2013 WL 6019212, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 163123 (prd 2013).

982 F. Supp. 2d 142 (Rishell v. Medical Card System, Inc.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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