Thompson v. Midwest Foundation Independent Physicians Ass'n

117 F.R.D. 108, 56 U.S.L.W. 2202, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8157
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Ohio
DecidedSeptember 4, 1987
DocketNo. C-1-86-744
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 117 F.R.D. 108 (Thompson v. Midwest Foundation Independent Physicians Ass'n) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Thompson v. Midwest Foundation Independent Physicians Ass'n, 117 F.R.D. 108, 56 U.S.L.W. 2202, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8157 (S.D. Ohio 1987).

Opinion

ORDER

HERMAN JACOB WEBER, District Judge.

CLASS CERTIFICATION

This matter is before the Court upon plaintiffs’ Motion to Certify this Case as a Class Action (doc. no. 27).

Initially, a crucial distinction must be emphasized between this Court’s consideration of the facts and law with regard to the issue of class certification and the facts and law involved with the adjudication of the merits of plaintiffs’ claims. This Court is concerned with the former only, and looks to Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure for legal guidance and authority.

Defendants spend much time and many pages diverting the Court’s attention to the countless variations among the members of the proposed class and to the inescapable individualized nature of the merits of plaintiffs’ claims, particularly as to plaintiffs' state claims. While defendants articulate at length their reasoning why this Court should not certify this case as a class action, defendants have not demonstrated why this Court cannot certify this as a class action on the federal claims.

The focus in this case must be directed at, and fixed on, the issue and nature of defendants’ liability, if any, and their course of conduct as it uniformly affected all plaintiffs. Rule 23 mandates that the proposed class members and representatives meet specified requisites before class certification is appropriate, but beyond the establishment and satisfaction of those prerequisites, the Court is not constricted solely to an examination of the class members in determining a common basis which would justify class certification. Very rarely, if ever, will a class be proposed to any court with the similarity and simplicity which defendants advance as legally necessary. To require such would render Rule 23 inoperable.

To make the class action a meaningful judicial vehicle, we must concentrate on the facts at the core of the dispute and determine the common legal and factual basis, if any, of the controversy without addressing the merits.

The Court has given serious consideration to the claims and defenses of the parties and their susceptibility to resolution on a classwide basis. The fact that individual claims and issues are interwoven in the eventual resolution of this matter, however, cannot automatically prevent class certification and does not automatically defeat the purpose of Rule 23. Further, class certification may be conditional and the Court retains this discretionary tool to decertify the class at any time if justice so requires.

Based upon the foregoing, the Court discards all unnecessary and improper discussion of the merits of plaintiffs’ claims as that remains solely in the province of the triers of fact after all evidence has been presented. The class certification issue is the issue before the Court and that decision is left to the sound discretion of the trial judge who bears the responsibility to manage the litigation.

[110]*110Accordingly, pursuant to two days of hearings, and upon consideration of the testimony, exhibits, briefs and arguments of counsel, and pursuant to Rule 23, the Court makes the following findings of fact and conclusions of law on the issue of class certification of plaintiffs’ claims against defendants:

FINDINGS OF FACT

(1) Plaintiffs are physicians who have been or currently are under contract through a physician provider agreement (“Provider Agreement”) with defendant Midwest Foundation Independent Physicians Association, d/b/a ChoiceCare (“ChoiceCare”); in addition, some of the plaintiffs are shareholders of defendant ChoiceCare Corporation (“Corporation”). All of the named plaintiffs reside in the Greater Cincinnati area.

(2) Defendant ChoiceCare is a health maintenance organization (“HMO”) founded in 1978 by physicians in the Greater Cincinnati area and was controlled and operated by physicians with the support and sponsorship of the Cincinnati Academy of Medicine.

(3) Defendant Corporation is a for-profit Delaware Corporation formed for the purpose of purchasing the assets of the not-for-profit ChoiceCare through a wholly-owned subsidiary, ChoiceCare, Inc. The Corporation was also incorporated to act as a holding company for other proposed business ventures.

(4) Defendant Stephen P. Hogg, M.D., is President of ChoiceCare and Chairman of the Board and Senior Executive Officer of the Corporation.

(5) Defendant Kerry P. Tarvin is the Executive Director of ChoiceCare and President, Director, and Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation.

(6) Plaintiffs’ First Amended Class Action Complaint and Jury Demand (“Amended Complaint”) was filed on behalf of the physicians who are or were providers to ChoiceCare and on behalf of those who have purchased any shares of Corporation stock pursuant to an Offering Circular dated February 15, 1985. The Amended Complaint contains 14 counts: four counts state federal causes of action; 10 counts allege violations of state law. Defendants’ Amended Answer contains four amended counterclaims: one count states a federal claim; three counts allege violations of state law.

(7) The proposed class representatives, John A. Brunsman, John J. Jaeger, Richard T. Marnell, Ronald J. Thompson, Paul F. Grote and S. George Lesinski are physicians who entered into ChoiceCare Provider Agreements prior to the time this suit was filed. Each claims injury by reason of the activity of defendants. Dr. Brunsman is currently a ChoiceCare providing physician.

(8) Paul F. Grote and S. George Lesinski are physicians who purchased shares of stock in the Corporation pursuant to the 1985 Offering Circular. (Ex. A, Def. Brief in Opposition to Plaintiffs’ Motion to Certify as Class Action; Ex. III, Def. Class Certification Hearing Exhibits).

(9) Plaintiffs express little complaint during the years that ChoiceCare operated as a non-profit organization. Only after plaintiffs perceived that the HMO might cease to be a charitable endeavor did they raise their federal claims and the issues herein. The conduct of defendants Hogg and Tarvin which promoted the Corporation, and ChoiceCare’s agreement to transfer the assets and liabilities to the Corporation constitute the real basis of the parties’ dispute. The Trustees on the Board of ChoiceCare are not defendants in this case.

(10) The parties have stressed the importance of the prompt resolution of this matter and have pressed this Court for an accelerated schedule and expeditious consideration of the issues.

A. 23(a)(1): Numerosity

(11) The proposed class consists of the physicians who have, at any time, entered into a physician Provider Agreement with ChoiceCare.

(12) The proposed subclass consists of the physicians in the class who purchased shares in the Corporation pursuant to the February 15, 1985 Offering Circular.

[111]*111B. 23(a)(2): Common Questions of Law and, Fact

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
117 F.R.D. 108, 56 U.S.L.W. 2202, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8157, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/thompson-v-midwest-foundation-independent-physicians-assn-ohsd-1987.