Kurtz v. RegionalCare Hospital Partners, Inc. d/b/a RCCH HealthCare Partners et al, No. 4:2019cv05049 - Document 110 (E.D. Wash. 2021)
Court Description: ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS' 83 MOTION TO DISMISS. RegionalCare Hospital Partners is dismissed without prejudice as a Defendant in this matter. Signed by Judge Rosanna Malouf Peterson. (SG, Case Administrator)
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Kurtz v. RegionalCare Hospital Partners, Inc. d/b/a RCCH HealthCare Partners et al Case 4:19-cv-05049-RMP ECF No. 110 filed 09/09/21 Doc. 110 PageID.2735 Page 1 of 17 1 2 FI LED I N THE U.S. DI STRI CT COURT EASTERN DI STRI CT OF WASHI NGTON 3 Sep 09, 2021 SEAN F. MCAVOY, CLERK 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 EASTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 6 7 MYLA KURTZ, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, NO: 4:19-CV-5049-RMP 8 Plaintiff, 9 v. 10 11 12 ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS REGIONALCARE HOSPITAL PARTNERS, INC., d/b/a RCC Healthcare Partners; RCCH TRIOS HEALTH, LLC; and RCCH TRIOS PHYSICIANS, LLC; 13 Defendants. 14 15 BEFORE THE COURT, without oral argument, is a Partial Motion to 16 Dismiss, ECF No. 83, from Defendants RegionalCare Hospital Partners, Inc. d/b/a 17 RCC Healthcare Partners, et al. Having reviewed Defendants’ Motion and 18 supporting declaration and exhibit, ECF Nos. 83, 83-1, and 83-2; Plaintiff Myla 19 Kurtz’s Response, ECF No. 93; and Defendants’ reply and supporting exhibits, 20 21 ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS’ PARTIAL MOTION TO DISMISS ~ 1 Dockets.Justia.com Case 4:19-cv-05049-RMP ECF No. 110 filed 09/09/21 PageID.2736 Page 2 of 17 1 ECF Nos. 95, 95-1, 95-2, and 95-3; the remaining docket; and the relevant law; the 2 Court is fully informed. 3 4 BACKGROUND Plaintiff Myla Kurtz brings this putative nationwide Fair Labor Standards Act 5 (“FLSA”) collective action and Washington-wide putative Rule 23 class action 6 alleging that Defendants did not pay non-exempt patient care workers for missed 7 meal breaks and work performed off-the-clock in violation of the FLSA and 8 Washington state law. See ECF No. 1 at 3–6, 10–11. Ms. Kurtz is an Oregon 9 resident and a nurse who formerly worked as a non-exempt employee at Trios 10 Southridge Hospital in Kennewick, Washington, from July 1999 until November 11 2018. See id. at 6, 10. 12 Defendant RegionalCare Hospital Partners is a Delaware limited liability 13 company with its principal place of business in Tennessee. ECF No. 83-1 at 2. 14 Defendants RCCH Trios Health, LLC (“Trios Health”) and RCCH Trios Physicians, 15 LLC (“Trios Physicians”) are Delaware limited liability companies with their 16 principal places of business in Washington. ECF Nos. 1 at 7; 83 at 9. Plaintiff’s 17 Complaint alleges that both Trio Health and Trios Physicians are “subsidiaries or 18 affiliates” of RegionalCare Hospital Partners. ECF No. 1 at 7. However, 19 Defendants assert that Plaintiff’s prior employer, Trios Southridge Hospital, is 20 owned by Trios Health, and neither RegionalCare Hospital Partners nor Trios 21 Physicians was Plaintiff’s employer. See ECF Nos. 83-1 at 5; 83-2 at 2. ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS’ PARTIAL MOTION TO DISMISS ~ 2 Case 4:19-cv-05049-RMP 1 ECF No. 110 filed 09/09/21 PageID.2737 Page 3 of 17 Plaintiff’s Complaint alleges a putative nationwide FLSA collective composed 2 of herself and similarly situated non-exempt healthcare workers “who are or have 3 been employed by Defendants as nursing staff, nurse aids, nurse assistants, and other 4 similar hourly and non-exempt employees in the United States [who] have been 5 subject to an automatic time deduction by Defendants within the three years 6 preceding the filing of this Complaint[.]” ECF No. 1 at 6; see also id. at 16 7 (defining proposed collective as certain of Defendants’ employees nationwide.”). 8 Prior to Defendants’ Partial Motion to Dismiss, Plaintiff filed Notices of Consent on 9 behalf of 59 current and former individuals who were employed at healthcare 10 facilities in Washington, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Montana, 11 Oklahoma, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, and Texas. ECF Nos. 3, 50–64, 66–69, 12 and 72–76. Defendants concede that eight of the individuals named in the opt-in 13 Notices of Consent were filed by individuals whose claims arise out of their 14 employment in Washington at Trios Southridge Hospital/Trios Women’s and 15 Children’s Hospital, Lourdes Health, and Capital Medical Center. ECF No. 83 at 4. 16 The remaining approximately 51 Notices of Consent are from non-Washington 17 residents whose opt-in claims allegedly arose during their employment with fifteen 18 hospital systems located in eleven states outside of Washington. See id. Defendants 19 have provided two declarations from the same person in support of their contention 20 that the healthcare employers of the non-Washington opt-in members are separate 21 and distinct legal entities from the Defendants in this case. ECF Nos. 83-1 and 95-1. ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS’ PARTIAL MOTION TO DISMISS ~ 3 Case 4:19-cv-05049-RMP 1 ECF No. 110 filed 09/09/21 PageID.2738 Page 4 of 17 After Plaintiff first filed Notices of Consent from non-Washington opt-in 2 putative collective members, Defendants filed a Motion for Leave to Amend 3 Answers to add a personal jurisdiction defense as to claims brought by the non- 4 Washington opt-in members. ECF Nos. 50–64, 65. The Court granted Defendants’ 5 Motion for Leave to Amend, and Defendants filed their Amended Answers. ECF 6 Nos. 79, 84–86. Plaintiff subsequently filed a Motion for Conditional Certification 7 of the FLSA collective, including opt-in members whose claims arose from non- 8 Washington hospitals, which the Court will resolve by separate order. See ECF 9 No. 80. Nearly contemporaneously, Defendants filed the instant Partial Motion to 10 Dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. ECF No. 83. 11 LEGAL STANDARD 12 Defendants move to dismiss the claims of any non-Washington opt-in putative 13 collective members and all claims against Defendant RegionalCare Hospital Partners 14 for lack of personal jurisdiction. ECF No. 83 at 2. 15 The plaintiff bears the burden of establishing personal jurisdiction when the 16 defendant challenges it. Schwarzenegger v. Fred Martin Motor Co., 374 F.3d 797, 17 800 (9th Cir. 2004). Prima facie evidence of personal jurisdiction is sufficient. Id. 18 To exercise personal jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant, a court must find that 19 the requirements of both the forum state’s long-arm statute and federal due process 20 are satisfied. Chan v. Society Expeditions, 39 F.3d 1398, 1404–05 (9th Cir. 1994). 21 As Washington’s long-arm statute extends personal jurisdiction to the limits of ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS’ PARTIAL MOTION TO DISMISS ~ 4 Case 4:19-cv-05049-RMP ECF No. 110 filed 09/09/21 PageID.2739 Page 5 of 17 1 federal due process, the jurisdictional analysis under state law and federal due 2 process are the same. See Schwarzenegger, 374 F.3d at 800. 3 Personal jurisdiction can be general or specific, depending on the nature and 4 extent of the defendant’s contacts with the forum state. Goodyear, 564 U.S. at 919. 5 “General” or “all-purpose” jurisdiction “permits a court to hear any and all claims 6 against a defendant, whether or not the conduct at issue has any connection to the 7 forum.” Ranza v. Nike, 793 F.3d 1059, 1068 (9th Cir. 2015) (internal quotation 8 omitted). For limited liability companies, courts are guided by personal jurisdiction 9 jurisprudence concerning corporations. See Athena Cosmetics v. United States 10 Warehouse, No. CV 19-8466-MWF (MRW), 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 73797, at *15 11 (C.D. Cal. Mar. 5, 2020). 12 To warrant the exercise of general jurisdiction, a corporation’s “affiliations” 13 with the forum state must be “so continuous and systematic as to render [it] 14 essentially at home” in the forum state. Daimler AG v. Bauman, 571 U.S. 117, 138– 15 39 (2014) (internal quotation omitted). Alternatively, a court may exercise 16 “specific,” or case-based, jurisdiction when the “suit arises out of or relates to the 17 defendant’s contacts with the forum.” Daimler, 571 U.S. at 119 (internal quotation 18 omitted). 19 20 Specific jurisdiction requires a nonresident defendant to have certain “minimum contacts” with the forum state. Int'l Shoe Co. v. Washington, 21 ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS’ PARTIAL MOTION TO DISMISS ~ 5 Case 4:19-cv-05049-RMP ECF No. 110 filed 09/09/21 PageID.2740 Page 6 of 17 1 326 U.S. 310, 316 (1945). To assert specific jurisdiction over a non-consenting 2 foreign defendant, the defendant must: (1) “purposefully direct [its] activities” 3 toward the forum or “purposefully avail” itself of the “privileges of conducting 4 activities in the forum”; (2) “the claim must be one which arises out of or relates to 5 the defendant's forum-related activities”; and (3) “the exercise of jurisdiction must 6 comport with fair play and substantial justice, i.e. it must be reasonable.” Dole Food 7 Co., Inc. v. Watts, 303 F.3d 1104, 1111 (9th Cir. 2002). “The plaintiff bears the 8 burden of satisfying the first two prongs of the test.” Schwarzenegger, 374 F.3d at 9 802. If the plaintiff satisfies the first two prongs, the burden shifts to the defendant 10 to demonstrate that the exercise of jurisdiction would not be reasonable. Axiom 11 Foods, Inc. v. Acerchem Int’l, Inc., 874 F.3d 1064, 1068–69 (9th Cir. 2017). 12 DISCUSSION 13 Defendants argue that personal jurisdiction over RegionalCare Hospital 14 Partners is lacking in this case because that entity “has no purposeful contact with 15 Washington whatsoever.” ECF No. 83 at 7. Defendants further assert that the 16 United States Supreme Court’s ruling in Bristol-Myers Squibb v. Superior Ct. of 17 Cal., 137 S. Ct. 1773 (2017), applies to FLSA collective actions and instructs that 18 specific personal jurisdiction does not apply to claims from non-Washington opt-in 19 members who lack a sufficient connection to Washington. Id. at 10–12. 20 21 ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS’ PARTIAL MOTION TO DISMISS ~ 6 Case 4:19-cv-05049-RMP ECF No. 110 filed 09/09/21 PageID.2741 Page 7 of 17 1 Waiver 2 As an initial matter, Plaintiff maintains that Defendants have consented to 3 personal jurisdiction in this Court by not raising the issue in their initial Answers. 4 ECF No. 93 at 6. 5 A party “waives any defense” under 12(b)(2) by “omitting it from a motion in 6 the circumstances described in Rule 12(g)(2)[.]” Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(h)(1)(A). 7 Rule 12(g), in turn, provides that “a party that makes a motion under this rule must 8 not make another motion under this rule raising a defense or objection that was 9 available to the party but omitted from its earlier motion.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(g)(2). 10 The instant motion is Defendants’ first motion under Rule 12(b), and 11 Defendants previously obtained leave of the Court to amend their answers to add 12 objections to personal jurisdiction, after the Notices of Consent from non- 13 Washington opt-ins were filed. ECF Nos. 65, 79. Plaintiff asserts that all 14 Defendants waived any personal jurisdiction defense when they did not raise the 15 defense in their initial answers in May 2019. ECF No. 93 at 6. Plaintiff adds that 16 the personal jurisdiction defense has been available to Defendants throughout this 17 litigation because Bristol-Myers was decided “more than two years before 18 Defendants filed their answers.” Id. 19 This Court already addressed the issue of waiver in resolving Defendants’ 20 Motion for Leave to Amend their Answers and found that Defendants did not waive 21 personal jurisdiction as a defense before any Rule 12 motion had been filed and ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS’ PARTIAL MOTION TO DISMISS ~ 7 Case 4:19-cv-05049-RMP ECF No. 110 filed 09/09/21 PageID.2742 Page 8 of 17 1 before Plaintiff moved for conditional certification. ECF No. 79 at 6–8. Plaintiff’s 2 only argument as to how the personal jurisdiction defense was “available” to 3 Defendants earlier in this litigation is that the Bristol-Myers decision was issued by 4 the Supreme Court in 2017, while Defendants first answered Plaintiff’s Complaint in 5 2019. See ECF No. 93 at 5 n. 3. However, as Defendants have argued, and the 6 Court previously noted, there were no foreign plaintiffs, or opt-in putative collective 7 members, at the time that Defendants first answered Plaintiff’s Complaint. ECF No. 8 79 at 7. The Court again finds that Defendants did not waive their objection to 9 personal jurisdiction. 10 Defendant RegionalCare Hospital Partners 11 Defendants argue that the Complaint makes no allegations supporting that 12 Defendant RegionalCare Hospital Partners is subject to general personal jurisdiction 13 in Washington, as Defendant RegionalCare Hospital Partners is a Delaware 14 corporation with its principal place of business in Tennessee. ECF No. 83 at 7. 15 There is no evidence in the record from which the Court could find any substantial 16 or continuous or systematic contact with Washington state. Defendants further 17 argue that this Court lacks specific jurisdiction over RegionalCare Hospital Partners 18 on the basis that the entity has no relation to any of the wage claims asserted in 19 Washington, and this Court lacks jurisdiction over the non-Washington claims. Id. 20 at 8. 21 ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS’ PARTIAL MOTION TO DISMISS ~ 8 Case 4:19-cv-05049-RMP 1 ECF No. 110 filed 09/09/21 PageID.2743 Page 9 of 17 Plaintiff responds that, even if the Court finds no waiver, RegionalCare 2 Hospital Partners is subject to personal jurisdiction in Washington because it 3 employs workers here, and that relationship gave rise to the claims at issue in this 4 case. ECF No. 93 at 3. 5 With respect to whether Defendant RegionalCare Hospital Partners employs 6 people in Washington and whether that employment forms the basis for claims by 7 Plaintiff and/or opt-in FLSA collective members in this case, Plaintiff asserts that 8 Plaintiff and many of the opt-in members “understood” RegionalCare Hospital 9 Partners to be their employer. ECF No. 93 at 3–4. Plaintiff also asserts that 10 RegionalCare Hospital Partners “implements a mandatory and system-wide ‘Code of 11 Conduct’ across all of the hospitals managed or operated by [RegionalCare Hospital 12 Partners] (including several within Washington)” and that this Code of Conduct 13 “underlies, at least in part, the FLSA violations alleged by Plaintiff and the entire 14 putative Collective members around the country” because it requires employees “to 15 remain on-duty at all times during their shift, including during unpaid meal periods.” 16 Id. at 4. 17 On these bases, Plaintiff asserts, nonresident Defendant RegionalCare 18 Hospital Partners is subject to specific jurisdiction in this action. ECF No. 93 at 19 14–16 (arguing that RegionalCare Hospital Partners has purposefully availed itself 20 of the privilege of conducting activities in Washington state “by employing Plaintiff 21 and thousands of workers in the state, and by implementing a Code of Conduct that ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS’ PARTIAL MOTION TO DISMISS ~ 9 Case 4:19-cv-05049-RMP ECF No. 110 filed 09/09/21 PageID.2744 Page 10 of 17 1 gives rise to FLSA violations on a systematic basis across all of RCCH’s hospitals in 2 the State.”). Plaintiff cites to materials that she submitted with her Motion for 3 Conditional Certification, including declarations from Plaintiff and opt-in members 4 of the putative FLSA collective indicating their belief or understanding that 5 “RCCH” was their employer. Id. at 19 (citing ECF Nos. 80-12–80-25). In addition, 6 Plaintiff relies on a letter from the Washington State Department of Health reciting 7 that “RegionalCare Hospital Partners Holdings, Inc. (d/b/a RCCH HealthCare 8 Partners” owns Capital Medical Center in Olympia, Washington, through a 9 subsidiary and also received approval to acquire Trios Health in Kennewick. See 10 ECF Nos. 93 at 19; 80-4 at 5. Plaintiff also cites to a news article dated August 3, 11 2018, that recited, “The [Trios Health] hospital will be operated by RCCH-UW 12 Medicine Healthcare Holdings, LLC as a joint venture formed between RCCH 13 HealthCare Partners and UW Medicine.” ECF No. 80-5 at 2. 14 Defendants respond that Plaintiff has provided no support that RegionalCare 15 Hospital Partners is in the ownership structure of Trios Health or Trios Physicians, 16 or any of the eighteen hospitals at which Plaintiff and the opt-in members were or 17 are employed. ECF No. 95 at 6–10. Defendants direct the Court to the initial and 18 Amended Answers filed by RegionalCare Hospital Partners, denying that it is an 19 employer under the FLSA or that other Defendants in this matter are its subsidiaries 20 or affiliates. Id. at 8 (citing ECF Nos. 21 and 85). Defendants further attach 21 discovery responses objecting to Plaintiff’s discovery requests on the grounds that ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS’ PARTIAL MOTION TO DISMISS ~ 10 Case 4:19-cv-05049-RMP ECF No. 110 filed 09/09/21 PageID.2745 Page 11 of 17 1 RegionalCare Hospital Partners is not a proper party to this action and swearing that 2 RegionalCare Hospital Partners did not employ Plaintiff or any hourly, non-exempt 3 employees similarly situated to her. Id. (citing ECF No. 95-2). Defendants also 4 submit a declaration and a supplemental declaration from Kathy Teague, an 5 “Assistant Vice President, Corporate Governance and Assistant Corporate Secretary 6 of LifePoint Health, Inc.” who is “familiar with the organizational structure of 7 LifePoint and its Subsidiaries.”1 ECF No. 83-1. Ms. Teague explains that 8 Defendant RegionalCare Hospital Partners is a distinct entity from RegionalCare 9 Hospital Partners Holdings, Inc., which is not a defendant. ECF No. 95-1 at 3. She 10 continues in her supplemental declaration: 11 As I noted in my first declaration, RegionalCare Hospital Partners, Inc. was a Delaware corporation that converted to a Delaware limited liability company effective December 13, 2019, and is now known as RegionalCare Hospital Partners, LLC. RegionalCare Hospital Partners, Inc. was previously the employing entity for certain Tennessee-based employees of RegionalCare Hospital Partners Holdings, Inc. and its subsidiaries. Neither RegionalCare Hospital Partners, Inc., nor RegionalCare Hospital Partners, LLC, ever employed individuals in the state of Washington and their principal place of business and main business location has at all times been in Brentwood, Tennessee. Neither RegionalCare Hospital Partners, Inc. nor RegionalCare Hospital Partners, LLC have ever had a "d/b/a" or other assumed name. 12 13 14 15 16 17 Id. 18 19 20 21 1 Ms. Teague’s declaration indicates that RegionalCare Hospital Partners Holdings, Inc. changed its name to Lifepoint Health, Inc. effective November 16, 2018. ECF No. 95-1 at 3. ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS’ PARTIAL MOTION TO DISMISS ~ 11 Case 4:19-cv-05049-RMP 1 ECF No. 110 filed 09/09/21 PageID.2746 Page 12 of 17 There is no assertion by Plaintiff that RegionalCare Hospital Partners is 2 subject to general jurisdiction in this action; rather, specific jurisdiction is at issue. 3 Toward that end, Plaintiff has not come forward with support for her assertion that 4 RegionalCare Hospital Partners, and not a different entity, has availed itself of the 5 “privileges of conducting activities in the forum.” See Dole Food, 303 F.3d at 1111. 6 Plaintiff’s support amounts to the understandings of Plaintiff and opt-in members 7 that RegionalCare Hospital Partners was or is their employer, and documents that 8 refer to RegionalCare Hospital Partners Holdings, Inc., rather than RegionalCare 9 Hospital Partners. ECF Nos. 80-4, 80-5, and 80-12–80-25. 10 Defendants rebut Plaintiff’s assertions of the relationship between 11 RegionalCare Hospital Partners and the entities that employed Plaintiff and the opt- 12 in members with declarations and citations to the record supporting that 13 RegionalCare Hospital Partners is not in the ownership structure of co-Defendants 14 Trio Health and Trios Physicians, but, rather, is a separate entity from the entity 15 discussed by Plaintiff, RegionalCare Hospital Partners Holdings, Inc. (d/b/a RCCH 16 HealthCare Partners). ECF No. 95-1 at 3. Defendants further offer a declaration to 17 support that RegionalCare Hospital Partners has not done business under another 18 name. Id.; see also Stewart v. Screen Gems-EMI Music, Inc., 81 F. Supp. 3d 938, 19 949 (N.D. Cal. 2015) (“A trial court may rule on the issue of personal jurisdiction by 20 ‘relying on affidavits and discovery materials without holding an evidentiary 21 ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS’ PARTIAL MOTION TO DISMISS ~ 12 Case 4:19-cv-05049-RMP ECF No. 110 filed 09/09/21 PageID.2747 Page 13 of 17 1 hearing’”) (quoting Fields v. Sedgwick Assoc. Risks, Ltd., 796 F.2d 299, 301 (9th 2 Cir. 1986)). 3 Plaintiff has not shown that her claims or the claims of any opt-in putative 4 collective member are connected to any activities by RegionalCare Hospital Partners 5 in Washington, and the Court finds no basis to exercise personal jurisdiction over 6 RegionalCare Hospital Partners in this case. Accordingly, the Court grants 7 Defendants’ Partial Motion to Dismiss with respect to dismissing RegionalCare 8 Hospital Partners as a Defendant. 9 10 Non-Washington FLSA Opt-In Members Defendants move to dismiss claims from opt-in putative collective members 11 that did not arise in Washington or result from Defendants’ presence in the state. 12 ECF Nos. 83 at 9; 95 at 10–11. Defendants acknowledge that the Court has general 13 jurisdiction over Trios Physicians and Trios Health, but argues that “‘unconnected 14 activities’” by Trios Physicians and Trios Health in Washington do not give rise to 15 personal jurisdiction over the non-Washington claims arising in 11 different states 16 that have been brought against them here.” ECF No. 83 at 11 (quoting Bristol- 17 Myers, 137 S. Ct. at 1781 (“‘What is needed—and what is missing here—is a 18 connection between the forum and the [opt-ins’] specific claims at issue.’”)). 19 Defendants further argue that any request by Plaintiff to amend the Complaint to add 20 other nonresident entities as defendants should be denied on the basis of futility. 21 ECF No. 83 at 13. ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS’ PARTIAL MOTION TO DISMISS ~ 13 Case 4:19-cv-05049-RMP ECF No. 110 filed 09/09/21 PageID.2748 Page 14 of 17 1 Plaintiff responds that the majority of district courts in the Ninth Circuit and 2 nationwide have declined to apply Bristol-Myers to FLSA collective actions. ECF 3 No. 93 at 7–8. Plaintiff proceeds to distinguish district court decisions applying 4 Bristol-Myers to FLSA collective actions to find a lack of personal jurisdiction over 5 nonresident opt-in members’ claims. Id. at 11–12. While Plaintiff argues that 6 Bristol-Myers does not deprive this Court of personal jurisdiction with respect to 7 nonresident opt-in members’ claims against RegionalCare Hospital Partners, 8 Plaintiff is silent as to opt-in members’ claims against Defendants Trios Physicians 9 and Trios Health. See ECF No. 93 at 7–18. Plaintiff does not request to amend her 10 11 complaint to add other nonresident defendants. See id. The Supreme Court in Bristol-Myers held that a California state court could 12 not exercise specific personal jurisdiction over claims brought by out-of-state 13 plaintiffs in a mass tort action. 137 S. Ct. at 1780. The Supreme Court explained 14 that “settled principles regarding specific jurisdiction” preclude state courts from 15 exercising jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant with respect to harm that 16 allegedly occurred outside of the forum state. Id. at 1782. The Supreme Court left 17 open the question of “whether the Fifth Amendment imposes the same restrictions 18 on the exercise of personal jurisdiction by a federal court.” Id. at 1784. 19 As this Court recognized in granting Defendants’ Motion for Leave to Amend 20 their Answers, the question of whether Bristol-Myers applies to FLSA collective 21 questions has been the subject of a district court split, including within the Ninth ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS’ PARTIAL MOTION TO DISMISS ~ 14 Case 4:19-cv-05049-RMP ECF No. 110 filed 09/09/21 PageID.2749 Page 15 of 17 1 Circuit. See ECF No. 79 at 8 (collecting cases); see also Parker v. IAS Logistics 2 DFW, LLC, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9499, at *5 (N.D. Ill. 2021) (recognizing a 3 nationwide district-court split” and a lack of controlling appellate authority). 4 Since briefing of Defendants’ Partial Motion to Dismiss completed, the Sixth 5 Circuit Court of Appeals became the first Circuit to decide the question of the 6 application of the Bristol-Myers precedent to an FLSA collective action. On 7 August 17, 2021, the Sixth Circuit held that a federal court lacked specific 8 jurisdiction over a defendant with respect to nonresident opt-in members of a 9 putative FLSA collective who were alleging that they were harmed by the defendant 10 outside of the forum state in which the federal court was located. Canaday v. 11 Anthem Companies, Inc., ___ F.4th ___, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 24523, 2021 WL 12 3629916 (6th Cir. Aug. 17, 2021). The Court also notes that on August 14, 2021, 13 another district court in the Ninth Circuit found that Bristol-Myers applies to FLSA 14 collective actions and precluded that court’s exercise of personal jurisdiction to 15 reach claims of nonresident opt-in members without any link between the alleged 16 conduct by defendant and Washington. Carlson v. United Nat. Foods, Inc., No. 17 C20-5476-JCC, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 154079 (W.D. Wash. Aug. 14, 2021). 18 Canaday also supports dismissal of Defendant RegionalCare Hospital Partners 19 because nothing in the record suggests that the claims of non-Washington residents 20 whose opt-in claims allegedly arose during their employment outside of Washington 21 have sufficient connection to this forum to support specific jurisdiction for ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS’ PARTIAL MOTION TO DISMISS ~ 15 Case 4:19-cv-05049-RMP ECF No. 110 filed 09/09/21 PageID.2750 Page 16 of 17 1 RegionalCare Hospital Partners here. See Canaday, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS, at *10 2 (“Where, as here, nonresident plaintiffs opt into a putative collective action under 3 the FLSA, a court may not exercise specific personal jurisdiction over claims 4 unrelated to the defendant's conduct in the forum State.”). 5 With respect to remaining Defendants Trios Health or Trios Physicians, 6 Defendants concede that this Court has general jurisdiction over these Washington- 7 domiciled entities. See ECF No. 83 at 9. The caselaw upon which Defendants rely 8 in seeking to dismiss non-Washington opt-in members’ claims addresses specific 9 jurisdiction over nonresident defendants. See Bristol-Myers, 137 S. Ct. at 1781–82; 10 McNutt v. Swift Transp. Co. of Ariz., LLC, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 119909, *24–25 11 (W. D. Wash. July 7, 2020); see also Canaday, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 24523, at *8; 12 Carlson, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 154079, at *8. As Defendants seek dismissal under 13 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(2), the Court does not find a basis to grant 14 relief with respect to claims against Defendants Trios Health or Trios Physicians, 15 which are subject to general jurisdiction. Therefore, the Court denies Defendants’ 16 Partial Motion to Dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction with respect to any claims 17 against Defendants Trios Health or Trios Physicians. 18 19 20 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 1. Defendants’ Partial Motion to Dismiss, ECF No. 83, is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART as set forth above. 21 ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS’ PARTIAL MOTION TO DISMISS ~ 16 Case 4:19-cv-05049-RMP 1 ECF No. 110 filed 09/09/21 PageID.2751 Page 17 of 17 2. RegionalCare Hospital Partners is dismissed without prejudice as a 2 Defendant in this matter. See, e.g., Kevin Barry Fine Art Assocs. v. Ken 3 Gangbar Studio, Inc., 486 F. Supp. 3d 1353, 1362 (N.D. Cal. 2020) 4 (granting a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction while 5 noting that the “dismissal is without prejudice to [plaintiff’s] ability to 6 pursue its claims in any other district where personal jurisdiction lies”). 7 8 9 IT IS SO ORDERED. The District Court Clerk is directed to enter this Order and provide copies to counsel. DATED September 9, 2021. 10 11 s/ Rosanna Malouf Peterson ROSANNA MALOUF PETERSON United States District Judge 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS’ PARTIAL MOTION TO DISMISS ~ 17
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