Rheumatology Diagnostics Laboratory, Inc et al v. Blue Shield of California Life & Health Insurance Company

Filing 267

ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR LEAVE TO AMEND COMPLAINT TO REFLECT NAME CHANGE by Hon. William H. Orrick granting 230 Motion for Leave to File a Third Amended Complaint. Plaintiffs shall file the third amended complaint on or befor e March 27, 2015. Quest need not file a new answer. The 225 administrative motion to file under seal the deposition transcript excerpts is DENIED WITH PREJUDICE. The Clerk shall unseal that document, located at Dkt. No. 225-6. (jmdS, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 3/20/2015)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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RHEUMATOLOGY DIAGNOSTICS
LABORATORY, INC, et al.,

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Plaintiffs,
v.

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AETNA, INC., et al.,

ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFFS’
MOTION FOR LEAVE TO AMEND
COMPLAINT TO REFLECT NAME
CHANGE
Re: Dkt. Nos. 225, 230

Defendants.

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

Case No. 12-cv-05847-WHO

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Plaintiffs move for leave to file a third amended complaint to reflect the corporate name

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change of one of the four plaintiffs in this case. Mot. 2 (Dkt. No. 230). This motion does not

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require oral argument and the hearing set for March 25, 2015 is VACATED. See Civil L.R. 7-

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1(b).

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Plaintiffs seek to replace all references in the complaint to “Hunter Laboratories, Inc.” with

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references to “HunterHeart, Inc.” Mot. 2. Hunter Laboratories, Inc. changed its name to

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HunterHeart, Inc. in conjunction with the August 2013 sale of the majority of its assets to

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BioReference Laboratories, Inc. Riedel Decl. ¶¶ 2-3 (Dkt. No. 230-3). Plaintiffs emphasize that

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the requested amendment is “purely technical” in nature and that the sole change to the complaint

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would be the replacement of approximately five references to “Hunter Laboratories, Inc.” with

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references to “HunterHeart, Inc.” Mot. 2.

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Defendants Quest Diagnostics Incorporated and Quest Diagnostics Clinical Laboratories

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Incorporated (collectively, “Quest”) oppose amendment on two grounds: first, that plaintiffs have

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unduly delayed in seeking amendment, and second, that the corporate name change “has the

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potential to cause confusion,” principally in that the relevant entity referred to in documents and

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testimony throughout this litigation has been “Hunter Laboratories, Inc.,” not “HunterHeart, Inc.”

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Opp. 2-3 (Dkt. No. 244). Quest also expresses concern that allowing the corporate name change

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will “obscure” the issue of which of plaintiffs’ claims, if any, are barred by the May 2011

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settlement agreement between Quest and Hunter Laboratories, Inc. Id. at 3.

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Plaintiffs’ motion is GRANTED. As plaintiffs state in the motion, the requested

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amendment is purely technical and will have no substantive impact on the parties’ claims and

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defenses. Plaintiffs shall file the third amended complaint on or before March 27, 2015. Quest

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need not file a new answer.

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In connection with the motion for leave to amend, plaintiffs filed an administrative motion
to file under seal two documents or portions thereof. Dkt. No. 225. The documents are

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(1) excerpts from the deposition transcript of Chris Riedel (Murphy Decl. Ex. A, Dkt. No. 225-6);

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and (2) the proposed third amended complaint (Murphy Decl. Ex. C, Dkt. No. 230). On February

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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24, 2015, I issued an order denying without prejudice the request to file under seal the deposition

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transcript excerpts. I gave “[a]ny party that wishes to file a declaration establishing good cause to

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file any portion of [the deposition transcript excerpts] under seal” until March 3, 2015 to do so.

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Dkt. No. 247 at 1. No declaration was filed by that date or at any time thereafter. Accordingly,

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the administrative motion to file under seal the deposition transcript excerpts is DENIED WITH

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PREJUDICE. The Clerk shall unseal that document, located at Dkt. No. 225-6.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: March 20, 2015
______________________________________
WILLIAM H. ORRICK
United States District Judge

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