Meta Healthcare Plaintiffs Back Meta's Motion to Sever Claims Against It in Doe Class Action

Plaintiffs in Meta Healthcare Litigation filed a memorandum (docket 3:23-cv-00059) Thursday in support of Meta’s motion to sever claims against it in the Doe v. Hey Favor action, calling “factually incorrect” plaintiff Jane Doe’s assertion that the Hey Favor action doesn't concern a hospital, while the Healthcare action concerns only hospitals.

The scope of the Healthcare action is defined by Meta’s collection of health information from entities regulated by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) and the Cash Management Improvement Act (CMIA), said the memorandum. Because the Hey Favor action asserts claims against Meta for using its tracking tools to intercept data from an entity that’s subject to HIPAA and CMIA, “severance is appropriate even though Hey Favor is not a hospital.” Any conclusion to the contrary “risks confusion and duplication, and would prejudice” the Healthcare plaintiffs, said the memorandum.

Telehealth provider Hey Favor filed a voluntary petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection April 18, triggering an automatic stay under the bankruptcy code in Doe’s March privacy class action against the company in U.S. District Court for Northern California in San Francisco (see 2304280021). Plaintiff Doe alleged Hey Favor knowingly and intentionally sent personally identifiable information about her medical history to Meta and other social media platforms.

Counsel for Doe argued this month in a letter to U.S. District Judge William Orrick that the bankruptcy statute is “clear” that the automatic stay triggered by Hey Favor's Chapter 11 filing doesn’t apply to the other defendants that aren’t also seeking bankruptcy protection (see 2305080053). The other defendants in the action that haven’t declared bankruptcy include Meta, TikTok, ByteDance and FullStory. Further proceedings against Hey Favor may have been automatically stayed due to the Chapter 11 filing, but the action should proceed against the other entities, said Doe, requesting leave to file a motion to sever the claims against Hey Favor so the rest of the case can proceed.

The Healthcare consolidated complaint defines the class as “all Facebook users whose health information was obtained by Meta from their health care provider or covered entity” subject to HIPPA or CMIA, said plaintiffs’ memorandum. The complaint also includes allegations about websites and applications, not just patient portals, the memorandum said.

Hey Favor plaintiffs allege Meta intercepted confidential healthcare information from communications with Hey Favor, “a ‘digital primary care’ platform [that] employs doctors and nurse practitioners that evaluate patients, provide medical services, maintain medical information and histories, and prescribe medications, to patients,” said the memorandum. Doe’s allegations fall “squarely within the scope of the Healthcare Action because they claim Meta acquired confidential health information without consent through its tracking technologies from a healthcare provider subject to CMIA,” said the memorandum. The claims should be “severed and related. Arguments against severance do not persuade.”