Ray v. Tabriz

Plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against medical providers in Illinois state court alleging medical malpractice and ultimately settled with all but one of the defendants. After the settlement, the plaintiff’s medical insurance company asserted a reimbursement lien under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Act, which states that insurance carriers are entitled to full reimbursement for benefits paid to an enrollee to treat an injury if the enrollee receives a monetary recovery from a third party. The plaintiffs filed a motion for lien adjudication that asserted the Illinois common fund doctrine and the health insurance carrier removed the case to federal court. Plaintiffs filed a motion to remand that was initially denied by the district court but later granted pursuant to a motion to reconsider. The carrier appealed the remand order, arguing that the federal court had federal question jurisdiction over the entire case and that the motion for adjudication was removable under the federal officer removal statute. The Seventh Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part, finding that the case did not involve a uniquely federal interest that supported federal question jurisdiction and that the district court properly held that it did not have jurisdiction on that basis. However, the Seventh Circuit reversed the district court order regarding federal officer removal finding that removal was proper because the carrier had satisfied all four elements for federal officer removal and that the district court should exercise its jurisdiction over the motion for lien adjudication. (ST. EVE and KOLAR, concurring)