Fazeli v. Northbridge Stroudwater Lodge II LLC
| Decision Date | 04 May 2021 |
| Docket Number | 2:20-cv-00350-JDL |
| Parties | JABBAR FAZELI, et al., Plaintiffs, v. NORTHBRIDGE STROUDWATER LODGE II LLC, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Maine |
Dr. Jabbar Fazeli and Maine Geriatrics, LLC (collectively, "Plaintiffs"), bring this action against three assisted living facilities in southern Maine, the facilities' corporate parent, and two individual administrators (collectively, "Defendants"), alleging several claims arising out of the termination of the Plaintiffs' contracts to provide medical services at those facilities: (1) a violation of 42 U.S.C.A. § 1981 (West 2021); (2) a violation of the Maine Whistleblowers' Protection Act (MWPA), 26 M.R.S.A. §§ 831-840 (West 2021); (3) defamation; and (4) tortious interference. The Defendants have moved to dismiss the Complaint in its entirety under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) (ECF No. 8). The Plaintiffs have filed a motion for leave to file an amended complaint containing further allegations in support of their defamation and tortious-interference claims (ECF No. 24). For the reasons that follow, I grant the Plaintiffs' motion for leave to amend and deny the Defendants' motion to dismiss.
The following facts are derived from the Complaint and from a newspaper article that is specifically referenced in the Complaint, which I may consider on a motion to dismiss. See Schatz v. Republican State Leadership Comm., 669 F.3d 50, 55 (1st Cir. 2012).
Dr. Fazeli is a medical doctor who practices through Maine Geriatrics, a Maine limited liability company of which he is the sole member. Defendant Northbridge Companies ("Northbridge") owns and operates assisted living facilities, including Defendants Stroudwater Lodge, Avita of Stroudwater, and Avita of Wells (collectively, "the Avita Facilities," and with Northbridge, the "Corporate Defendants").1 The Corporate Defendants share ownership and management, as well as control of their labor relations. At various times, including from May 2018 onwards, Defendant Katrin Feick was Executive Director at Avita of Stroudwater and Defendant Orlene DeMatteo was that facility's Resident Care Director (RCD) (collectively, Feick and DeMatteo are the "Individual Defendants").
In 2015 and 2016, the Plaintiffs entered into contracts with all three Avita Facilities to provide medical services, resulting in Dr. Fazeli becoming the MedicalDirector of all three. As Medical Director, Dr. Fazeli's work included "conduct[ing] weekly rounds at the three facilities," and he "was involved in strategic planning, community education and marketing." ECF No. 1 ¶ 36. Maine Geriatrics "provided onsite visits" by its employee nurse practitioners, and "provided 24/7 medical coverage for the three facilities." Id. ¶ 37. Additionally, residents were allowed to choose their primary care providers, and by November 2018 Dr. Fazeli had been chosen as primary care provider by approximately 80% of the residents at the three facilities.
On August 17, 2016, the Bangor Daily News published a story about Dr. Fazeli's brother, who had left Maine to fight for the Islamic State in Syria. The story identified Dr. Fazeli by name, stating also that he was a "Portland physician" and "geriatrician," and described his growing up with his brother in Iran, including details about their religious upbringing. ECF No. 8-1 at 4. The story included extensive statements from Dr. Fazeli, who recounted his experience contacting the FBI to inform them about his brother's radicalization.
The Plaintiffs allege that the day after the article was published, Marcia Suddy and Shawn Bertram—Regional Nurse Director and Vice President of Operations for Northbridge, respectively—discussed the article and "both expressed concern that [the] Defendants' business interests would suffer if patients knew about Dr. Fazeli's Middle Eastern origins and Islamic religious background." ECF No. 1 ¶ 54. The Plaintiffs also allege that after the story was published, "nurses at the facilities were told not to follow Dr. Fazeli's standing orders and policy recommendation[s]." Id. ¶55. For instance, in December 2016, Dr. Fazeli began a discussion among facility administrators about the facilities' practices of keeping a communal supply of medications to fill standing orders, rather than keeping a separate supply earmarked for each patient, after learning that a state agency might require the latter practice. "Suddy inserted herself into the discussion and refused to accept the validity of research" that Dr. Fazeli had conducted to resolve the issue. Id. ¶ 62. Suddy allegedly "continued to veto Dr. Fazeli's standing orders" after the state agency confirmed that Dr. Fazeli's practices were permitted. Id. ¶ 63.
The Plaintiffs allege that during the course of their work at the Avita Facilities, Dr. Fazeli made a series of critical reports to the facilities' managers regarding administrative and medical practices there, and that the Defendants retaliated against him for those reports. The reports related to the use of a particular pharmacy, the collection of vaccination histories from current facility residents, the use of certain medications, and the level of medical care that could be provided at the Avita Facilities (that is, before a resident might need to be transferred to a facility that could provide more intensive care). The Complaint also asserts that "Feick expressed anger and dissatisfaction" about Dr. Fazeli's reports, id. ¶ 131, and that beginning in May 2018, Feick and DeMatteo allegedly "began to take steps to terminate" the Plaintiffs' contract with Avita of Stroudwater, id. ¶ 133.
The Complaint asserts that, "[i]n order to effectuate" that termination, "Feick and DeMatteo provided false and misleading information to Suddy, Bertram, and the executive directors and RCDs for the other facilities." Id. ¶ 139. For instance, Feickand DeMatteo allegedly "claimed that Dr. Fazeli had engaged in inappropriate communications with residents" and employees of the three facilities. Id. ¶ 141. On August 3, 2018, Feick and DeMatteo allegedly told Bertram that they planned to terminate the Fazeli contract with Avita of Stroudwater. Bertram "approved" the plan. Id. ¶ 148.
According to the Plaintiffs, Feick's and DeMatteo's actions led to the termination of the Plaintiffs' contracts with the other two facilities as well. For instance, the Complaint alleges that the Executive Director of Stroudwater Lodge "conceded" during a state administrative proceeding "that if Feick and DeMatteo had not advocated for the replacement of Plaintiffs . . . , Stroudwater Lodge would have continued their contract with Plaintiffs." Id. ¶ 151. On August 9, 2018, Stroudwater Lodge proposed to terminate its contract with the Plaintiffs. Again, the termination was approved by Bertram, and Suddy "facilitat[ed] the process for replacing Plaintiffs." Id. ¶ 145.
On October 2, 2018, the Defendants gave the Plaintiffs sixty days' notice that the contracts with all three facilities were being terminated.
The Complaint also alleges that during the transition period to the new Medical Director and medical services provider, the Defendants interfered with the Plaintiffs' economic interest in continuing to provide individual medical services to patients who resided at the assisted living facilities. Specifically, on October 26, 2018—about halfway through the roughly 60-day transition period—Feick scheduled a meet-and-greet at Avita of Stroudwater for the residents to meet the new MedicalDirector. "The meet-and-greet was scheduled to coincide with Dr. Fazeli's visit day at the facility," and "Feick and DeMatteo steered [residents] to leave Plaintiffs' medical practice and opt for the new Medical Director." Id. ¶¶ 158-59.
The Complaint also alleges that the Defendants, including Feick but not DeMatteo, "drafted and distributed" a letter to the residents at all three facilities announcing the new Medical Director (the "Announcement Letter"). Id. ¶ 161. The Announcement Letter did not explain the circumstances of Dr. Fazeli's departure—it did not refer to him at all—or notify residents that they had the choice to keep Dr. Fazeli as their individual medical provider, although it did "include a very general statement about [their] right to any provider of their choosing." Id. ¶162. Additionally, the Complaint asserts that the Defendants informed at least one resident that Dr. Fazeli had resigned.
By November 2018, "about 80% of residents" had previously selected Dr. Fazeli as their personal physician. Id. ¶ 40. But "[w]ithin a week" after the Announcement Letter was disseminated, all of the residents at two of the facilities transferred their business to the new provider, and only ten residents at the third facility stayed with Dr. Fazeli. Id. ¶ 166.
The Plaintiffs filed their Complaint on September 28, 2020, asserting (1) a violation of 42 U.S.C.A. § 1981; (2) a violation of the MWPA; (3) defamation; and (4) tortious interference. The Defendants responded with their Motion to Dismiss the Complaint in its entirety under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) (ECF Nos. 7, 8). The Court held a hearing on the Defendants' motion on January 28, 2021 (ECFNo. 23). On March 8, 2021, the Plaintiffs filed their motion seeking leave to file an amended complaint that would add several factual allegations relevant to the defamation and tortious interference claims (ECF No. 24).
To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint "must contain sufficient factual matter to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face." Rodríguez-Reyes v. Molina-Rodríguez, 711 F.3d 49, 53 (1st Cir. 2013) ...
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