Worley v. Cent. Fla. Young Men's Christian Ass'n, Inc.

• Decision Date: 15 May 2015
• Docket Number: No. 5D14–3895.,5D14–3895.
• Parties: Heather WORLEY, Petitioner, v. CENTRAL FLORIDA YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION, INC., etc., Respondent.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

163 So.3d 1240

Heather WORLEY, Petitioner

v.CENTRAL FLORIDA YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION, INC., etc., Respondent.

No. 5D14–3895.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.

May 15, 2015.

Andrew Parker Felix and W. Clay Mitchell, Jr., of Morgan & Morgan, P.A., Orlando, and Celene H. Humphries and Tracy S. Carlin, of Brannock & Humphries, Tampa, for Petitioner.

Lamar D. Oxford, Joseph R. Flood, Jr. and Jessica C. Conner, of Dean, Ringers, Morgan & Lawton, P.A., Orlando, for Respondent.

Opinion

LAMBERT, J.

Heather Worley petitions this court for a writ of certiorari to quash the trial court's order requiring her to produce information pertaining to the relationship between her treating physicians and her attorneys below, Morgan & Morgan, P.A. For the following reasons, we deny the petition.

During the discovery process of this relatively routine trip-and-fall case, Morgan & Morgan has tenaciously opposed all attempts by the Respondent, Central Florida Young Men's Christian Association, Inc. (“YMCA”), to learn how Worley became a patient of certain medical care providers. After Worley fell in YMCA's parking lot, she twice went to the emergency room of Florida Hospital East, where she was eventually advised to see a specialist concerning pain in her right knee. However, according to Worley, she did not go to a specialist for a month or two after the accident because she did not have enough money or any health insurance. Instead, she “started seeking out representation.” After Worley retained Morgan & Morgan, various doctors from Sea Spine Orthopedic Institute, Underwood Surgery Center, and Sanctuary Surgical & Anesthesia treated Worley. Morgan & Morgan subsequently filed a negligence suit against YMCA on behalf of Worley, seeking to recover damages, including the costs of her treatment from those healthcare providers.

During Worley's deposition, YMCA asked her, generally, how she came to see the specialists who treated her and, specifically, if she was referred to a doctor by her attorneys. Worley's counsel objected to both questions on the ground of attorney-client privilege. Following the deposition, on December 4, 2012, YMCA propounded to Worley three sets of Boecher interrogatories and a supplemental request to produce, attempting to ascertain the extent of the relationship between Morgan & Morgan and Sea Spine, Underwood Surgery Center, and Sanctuary Surgical & Anesthesia.¹ According to YMCA, it has reason to believe that there is a “cozy agreement” between Morgan & Morgan and the treating physicians in this case due to the unusually high cost of Worley's medical bills. In this regard, Worley concedes that YMCA has sufficient evidence to argue that the medical bills are unreasonable.

YMCA's Boecher interrogatories were directed to specific doctors employed by Sea Spine, Underwood Surgery Center, and Sanctuary Surgical & Anesthesia that treated Worley and who were expected to testify at trial. In particular, YMCA sought the names of all cases for the last three years in which the doctor or another doctor within the same affiliation treated a Morgan & Morgan client, the total medical bills charged, and the amount paid to any third-party company that purchased the client accounts in those cases. In addition, YMCA requested the names of all cases in which the doctor or another doctor within the same affiliation testified at trial or in a deposition on behalf of a Morgan & Morgan client and the expert fee paid in those cases.

YMCA's supplemental request to produce was directed to Worley and sought the following two types of information:

1. Complete copies of any and all agreements, arrangements, and understandings regarding referral or treatment of, billing for, protections of bills or any other matter pertaining in anyway to the referral of and the billing for patients between MORGAN & MORGAN, P.A. and/or any of its various attorneys relating to any clients of MORGAN & MORGAN, or its associated attorneys for the last five years.

2. Any and all documents reflecting the amounts received and collected and/or compromised or adjusted for any bills rendered for medical evaluation care and treatment from SEA SPINE ORTHOPEDIC INSTITUTE, UNDERWOOD SURGERY CENTER and SANCTUARY SURGICAL & ANESTHESIA, for the clients of MORGAN & MORGAN, PA. and any of its associated attorneys.

Worley objected to YMCA's interrogatories and supplemental request to produce, arguing that the discovery requests were “overbroad, vague, unduly and financially burdensome, irrelevant and in violation [of] allowable discovery pursuant to Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.280(b)(4).”² Further, Worley stated that neither Worley's counsel, individually, nor Morgan & Morgan “keeps said information for treating physicians as in this matter, or otherwise” and that YMCA can “obtain said information, if any, from the treating physicians at their depositions,” should YMCA choose to depose them. However, according to YMCA, Worley also filed a motion for protective order to prevent YMCA from obtaining this informationfrom the billing custodians for Worley's treating physicians. Additionally, when the treating physicians were deposed, they all responded that they were unsure who referred Worley to them, although some believed that Worley might have been referred by Florida Hospital East.

Following a hearing concerning Worley's deposition objections, the trial court sustained Worley's objection to the question regarding whether she was referred by her attorneys. However, the trial court overruled all of Worley's other deposition objections. The court informed YMCA that “[t]he only question that you're prohibited from asking is whether or not the attorney's [sic] referred her to the doctor.” The court did not address Worley's objections to YMCA's other outstanding discovery requests at that time.

In a second deposition, in conformity with the court's prior ruling, YMCA again asked Worley how she was referred to her doctor. However, Worley again objected on the ground of attorney-client privilege. Nevertheless, in response to YMCA's other questions, Worley stated that she was not referred by another doctor, by Florida Hospital East, or by a friend or relative.

YMCA then filed a “Motion to Compel Better Answers to Boecher Interrogatories and Supplemental Request for Production.”³ Following a second hearing, the trial court entered an order granting in part and denying in part YMCA's motion. Pursuant to the written order, for the time period between three years prior to and six months after December 4, 2012, Worley was required to produce, within 30 days, two types of discovery materials:

[1] complete copies of any and all documents reflecting formal or informal agreements, arrangements, and understandings regarding the billing for patients or any direct or indirect referral of a client by any attorney employed by or affiliated with Morgan & Morgan (whether currently or formerly employed by or affiliated with Morgan & Morgan) to any of the following entities or persons: Sea Spine Orthopedic Institute (or its doctors); Underwood Surgery Center (or its doctors); Physicians Surgical Group (or its doctors); and Sanctuary Surgical and Anesthesia (or its doctors), and vice versa[; and]

[2] the names of any and all cases (including plaintiff, defendant, court and case number) where a client was referred directly or indirectly by any attorney employed by or affiliated with Morgan & Morgan (whether currently or formerly employed by or affiliated with Morgan & Morgan) to any of the following entities or persons: Sea Spine Orthopedic Institute (or its doctors); Underwood Surgery Center (or its doctors); Physicians Surgical Group (or its doctors); and Sanctuary Surgical and Anesthesia (or its doctors), and vice versa.

Although not in the court's written order, in its oral pronouncement, the court stated that “[i]f the health care provider doesn't have it, then the law firm is to produce it.” The order did not state which party was to bear the costs of complying with the court's order.

Importantly, as stated in the court's order, Worley's written objections to the financial discovery—including the total medical bills charged and the amount paid to any third-party company that purchased the client accounts, the expert fee paid to the doctors for testifying, and “[a]ny and all documents reflecting the amounts received and collected and/or compromised or adjusted for any bills rendered for medical evaluation care and treatment from the relevant treating physicians”—were sustained without prejudice. According to the court, it would reconsider this ruling “should a billing or referral agreement, arrangement or understanding, or past referrals be demonstrated between any attorney who is currently or formerly employed by or affiliated with Morgan & Morgan” and the relevant treating physicians.

Worley filed a motion for reconsideration of the court's order, arguing that the information was protected by attorney-client privilege and that it would be overly burdensome, if not impossible, to comply with the court's order, inter alia. Attached to the motion was an affidavit by Deborah Parrott, the Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”) of Morgan & Morgan, in which she states that to the best of her knowledge, there are no documents kept or maintained by Morgan & Morgan that address the information sought by YMCA. In the motion and a separate affidavit, Worley's attorney stated that he has identified 238 “separate, Non–Party legal matters involving Plaintiff's Treating Physicians” and that it would be necessary to expend a minimum of one hour attorney review time for each case “to manually search hard-copy files, in order to compile a list of the information requested in the Defendant's interrogatories,” at an estimated fee of $94,010.⁴ The trial court summarily denied Worley's motion for reconsideration, and Worley filed the instant petition for writ of certiorari.

In her petition, Worley argues that the...