Opinion ID: 3026402
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Grider Injunction Decision

Text: On November 29, 2006, Highmark’s counsel announced that Highmark had joined a “substantial majority” of Blues defendants in Love who had decided to settle that litigation, and that the Grider claims would be released under a broad release negotiated as part of that settlement. However, because of the confidentiality of the pending settlement agreement, Highmark’s 11 counsel would not discuss any details at that time. Plaintiffs’ counsel in Love subsequently confirmed that Highmark had agreed to settle the Love litigation, and that the release in Love would also release claims against all present and former subsidiaries of any defendant in Love, which would include Keystone. After learning of this pending settlement agreement, the Plaintiffs in Grider filed a motion for a preliminary injunction against Highmark, Capital, and other co-defendants, to enjoin them from settling the Grider claims as part of the Florida Love and Solomon settlements. Subsequently, on January 19, 2007, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania granted the injunction sought by the Plaintiffs. Its order provides that: IT IS ORDERED that plaintiffs’ motion for an injunction is granted. IT IS FURTH[E]R ORDERED that pursuant to the All Writs Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1651(a), the court enjoins defendants Keystone Health Plan Central, Inc.; Highmark, Inc.; John S. Brouse; Capital Blue Cross; James M. Mead; Joseph Pfister; their attorneys, including, but not limited to, Michael L. Martinez, Kimberly J. Krupka, Kathleen Taylor Sooy, Sandra A. Girifalco, Mary J. Hackett, Steven E. Siff and their respective law firms; and anyone acting [o]n their behalf or in concert with them, from settling, or attempting to settle, the class and subclass claims in, or any part 12 of, the within litigation, which claims the undersigned certified by Order and Opinion dated December 20, 2006, and filed December 21, 2006, and which are pending before this court, in any other forum without the express approval of this court. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the aforesaid persons and firms are specifically enjoined from settling, or attempting to settle, the certified class and subclass claims in, or in any part of, the within matter in the multidistrict litigation currently pending before United States District Judge Federico A. Moreno in case number MDL No. 1334 in the United States District Court [for] the Southern District of Florida, Miami Division, in the cases known as Love, et al. v. Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, et al., case number 1:03-CV-21296; . . . Solomon, et al. v. Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, et al., case number 1:03-CV-22935; and any other related case or cases. Grider, 2007 WL 201011, . In granting this injunction, the District Court explained that “[i]n doing so, I am not enjoining Judge Moreno from taking any action in his MDL cases in Florida. Nor am I enjoining any of the parties in the Florida litigation, including Highmark, Inc. and Capital Blue Cross, from settling any of the Florida plaintiffs’ claims in the Florida litigation, which in my 13 view are different than the class claims which I certified in this Pennsylvania litigation.” Id. at . The Court emphasized that the Defendants “will still be able to settle the Love and Solomon claims in Florida.” Id. at . Indeed, the District Court arrived at this view, in part, based on statements from the Defendants themselves, who had argued at various times earlier in the proceedings that the Grider case was distinct from the Florida MDL. In response to discovery requests regarding the Florida MDL, for example, Capital stated that the MDL “concerns unrelated defendants with different payment policies, different payment practices, and different payment software,” and explained that Love and Solomon “do not involve defendant [Keystone Health Plan] Central’s HMO.”