TENA CAMPBELL, District Judge.
Plaintiff Justin Mayall sought treatment for his back pain from Defendants Dr. Vikas Garg and Advanced Spine Pain Specialists (Advanced Spine). Dr. Garg and Advanced Spine told Mr. Mayall they would treat him only after they received preapproval from his insurance. A few days later, Dr. Garg performed a procedure on Mr. Mayall, curing his back pain. Unfortunately, Advanced Spine had failed to acquire preauthorization for the procedure. Though Advanced Spine waived its charges for the procedure, the hospital did not. Mr. Mayall's hospital charges were turned over to a collector and reported to credit agencies.
Mr. Mayall sued the collectors, the credit agencies, the hospital, Dr. Garg, and Advanced Spine. Many of these claims arise under federal law. Dr. Garg and Advanced Spine filed a motion to dismiss Mr. Mayall's four state-law claims against them. Concluding that (1) the first two claims are time-barred, (2) the court has, and will exercise, supplemental jurisdiction over the remaining two claims, and (3) the remaining two claims are well-pleaded, the court GRANTS Dr. Garg's and Advance Spine's motion in part and DENIES it in part.
Experiencing back pain, Mr. Mayall visited Dr. Garg at the Advanced Spine office. During his visit, Mr. Mayall submitted his insurance information. Advanced Spine told Mr. Mayall that despite his intense pain, Dr. Garg would not treat him until it received preauthorization from his insurance. To allow time to acquire preauthorization, Advanced Spine scheduled an appointment for Mr. Mayall to return in a few days. Mr. Mayall consented to treatment, relying on Advanced Spine's representation that Dr. Garg would not treat him until preauthorization was obtained.
A few days later, Mr. Mayall returned to Advanced Spine for his appointment. Believing that his insurance had provided preauthorization, Mr. Mayall underwent Dr. Garg's procedure. Shortly after, Mr. Mayall received a bill from Advanced Spine. On reading this bill, Mr. Mayall learned that Advanced Spine had failed to receive preauthorization from his insurance. Mr. Mayall called Advanced Spine to dispute the charges. Advanced Spine admitted that it had forgotten to acquire preauthorization. As a result, Advanced Spine waived Mr. Mayall's fees.
Mr. Mayall's insurance would have covered the procedure had Advanced Spine and the hospital sought preauthorization. Also, had Mr. Mayall known that his insurance had not provided preauthorization, Mr. Mayall would not have allowed Dr. Garg to perform the procedure.
Though Advanced Spine told Mr. Mayall that it would waive the fees associated with his procedure, he learned that Advanced Spine and Dr. Garg attempted to bill Medicare. Additionally, the hospital did not waive his fees. Because Mr. Mayall refused to pay the hospital, it turned Mr. Mayall's account over to collectors, who in turn sued Mr. Mayall in state court and reported his debt to credit agencies.
Mr. Mayall sued various parties including the hospital, the collectors, the credit agencies, Dr. Garg, and Advanced Spine. This Order addresses Mr. Mayall's four claims against Dr. Garg and Advanced Spine: a claim for violating the Utah Consumer Sales Practice Act (UCSPA), a claim for fraud, a claim for negligent misrepresentation, and a claim for civil conspiracy.
Dr. Garg and Advanced Spine contend that Mr. Mayall's UCSPA and fraud claims are barred by their respective statutes of limitations. Dr. Garg and Advanced Spine argue that the statute of limitations on Mr. Mayall's claims began run in August 2012. Mr. Mayall disagrees. He contends that statute of limitations began to run in 2015 and that the discovery rule should apply to his UCSPA claim.
As "a general rule, a statute of limitations begins to run upon the happening of the last event necessary to complete the cause of action."
Courts recognize two narrow settings in which a statute of limitations may be tolled "until the discovery of facts forming the basis for the cause of action."
Here, Mr. Mayall's claims for fraud and violating the UCSPA all stem from the representation that Dr. Garg would not perform the procedure without preauthorization from Mr. Mayall's insurance. Both parties agree that the relevant statutes of limitations for Mr. Mayall's claims are two and three years.
Mr. Mayall seeks to avoid this conclusion by first arguing that the discovery rule applies to his UCSPA claim. Specifically, he claims that Dr. Garg concealed facts when he testified falsely in a state-court proceeding in 2015— when he allegedly stated that the "procedure performed by Advanced Spine and Dr. Garg occurred on August 9, 2012, when in fact, Dr. Garg knew the procedure was performed on August 14, 2012." (Def.'s Resp. to Pls.'s Mot. for Summ. J., ECF No. 72.) But this allegedly false testimony does not trigger the discovery rule: it did not prevent Mr. Mayall from learning of his UCSPA cause of action, nor does it "present exceptional circumstances" where the "application of the general rule would be irrational or unjust."
Second, Mr. Mayall argues that both claims are not time-barred because they began to run in 2015, when Dr. Garg allegedly testified falsely. But again, a review of the amended complaint shows that these claims stem from the representation that Dr. Garg would not perform the procedure without preauthorization. Dr. Garg's alleged false testimony regarding the date the procedure actually occurred does not constitute the last event necessary to complete these causes of action.
In sum, the statute of limitations on Mr. Mayall's fraud and UCSPA claims began to run in August 2012. Because these claims have a two-year and a threeyear statute of limitations, and because Mr. Mayall did not even seek leave to file these claims until January 2016, they are time-barred. Dr. Garg's alleged false testimony in 2015 does not change this.
Dr. Garg and Advanced Spine contend that the court does not have supplemental jurisdiction over Mr. Mayall's negligent-misrepresentation and civil-conspiracy claims. In the alternative, Dr. Garg and Advanced Spine argue that the court should decline to exercise its jurisdiction over these claims. Mr. Mayall responds that the court has supplemental jurisdiction over these claims and should exercise it because they form part of the same controversy and do not present any novel state-law issues.
When a district court has jurisdiction over a lawsuit, "additional claims and parties can be added under the supplemental-jurisdiction statute."
Even if a court has supplemental jurisdiction over a claim, it can decide not to exercise its jurisdiction.
28 U.S.C. § 1367(c).
Here, Mr. Mayall has brought claims against credit agencies, collectors, a hospital, Dr. Garg, and Advanced Spine. Most of the claims involve collection efforts and credit reporting that stem from the procedure Mr. Mayall received from Dr. Garg at Advanced Spine. Neither party contests that the court has original jurisdiction over many of these claims. But Mr. Mayall also brought civil-conspiracy and negligent-misrepresentation claims against Dr. Garg and Advanced Spine, which are based solely on state law. Mr. Mayall's civilconspiracy claim alleged that Dr. Garg and Advanced Spine conspired with the other defendants "to collect [his] alledged debt." And Mr. Mayall's negligentmisrepresentation claim involves the misrepresentation regarding preauthorization. These claims derive from a "common nucleus of operative fact," from which the other claims in this lawsuit arise. Consequently, the claims form "part of the same case or controversy" and the court has supplemental jurisdiction over them. 28 U.S.C. § 1367(a).
Further, the court sees no reason to decline its jurisdiction over these claims because none of the factors in § 1367(c) are present here.
In sum, because Mr. Mayall's negligent-misrepresentation and civilconspiracy claims form part of the same case or controversy as the other claims in the lawsuit, the court has and will exercise supplemental jurisdiction over them.
Dr. Garg and Advanced Spine move to dismiss Mr. Mayall's negligentmisrepresentation and civil-conspiracy claims under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), arguing that Mr. Mayall failed to sufficiently plead these claims. Mr. Mayall responds that he alleged facts sufficient to survive a motion to dismiss.
Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2), a pleading stating a claim for relief must contain "a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief." "To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to `state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.'"
Here, Mr. Mayall's complaint pleads sufficient facts which, when accepted as true, state claims "to relief that [are] plausible on [their] face."
For these reasons, the court GRANTS in part and DENIES in part Dr. Garg and Advanced Spine's Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 50). The court ORDERS as follows:
(1) Mr. Mayall's UCSPA and fraud claims are time-barred and, consequently, dismissed.
(2) The court has, and will exercise, supplemental jurisdiction over Mr. Mayall's civil-conspiracy and negligent-misrepresentation claims. These claims are also sufficiently pleaded.
(3) Dr. Garg and Advanced Spine's request for an award of attorney's fees and costs is DENIED.