Taft Wins Significant Dismissal for Public Hospital Client

A Taft Indianapolis litigation team, which included attorneys Matt Albaugh, Pete French, Vivek Hadley, and Christine Walsh, obtained dismissal of a putative class action complaint for client Columbus Regional Hospital (CRH) in the Indiana Commercial Court on July 2.

CRH is a health system serving patients throughout a 10-county region in southeastern Indiana. The case was a putative class action filed on behalf of all users of CRH's website since late 2016. The Plaintiffs alleged their private health information was improperly disclosed to third parties like Meta through Facebook's Pixel technology. The Plaintiffs asserted these disclosures violated HHS rules and HIPAA and alleged a variety of state claims, including the Indiana Deceptive Consumer Sales Act.

CRH is Bartholomew County's municipal hospital, making the Plaintiffs' claims subject to the Indiana Tort Claims Act (ITCA). Taft litigated the lawsuit through three iterations of the Plaintiffs' complaint as the Plaintiffs attempted to amend and re-file to get into compliance with the ITCA. The Plaintiffs finally settled on a fourth iteration of their complaint, which Taft moved to dismiss. Taft completed briefing in early 2024 and delivered oral argument in Judge Christina Klineman in early May.

Albaugh and French are partners in Taft's Indianapolis office. Albaugh helps companies and non-profits navigate through the challenges of high-stakes product liability and commercial litigation, regulatory compliance and investigations by federal and state regulators, and corporate governance. French is a highly experienced trial lawyer who has represented clients in litigation matters in many jurisdictions across the United States.

Hadley and Walsh are litigation associates in Indianapolis. Hadley has significant experience in every aspect of commercial and criminal litigation, from jury trials through appeals. Walsh represents individuals and entities in a variety of complex litigation matters in federal and state courts.