A Maryland firm chosen to oversee Louisiana's Medicaid claims will be able to move forward with a civil suit against the state for wrongful termination of its contract, a Baton Rouge judge ruled Tuesday. Judge Tim Kelley of the 19th Judicial District Court reversed his previous ruling that would have delayed evidence gathering and depositions for six months. "Judge...
A Maryland firm chosen to oversee Louisiana's Medicaid claims will be able to move forward with a civil suit against the state for wrongful termination of its contract, a Baton Rouge judge ruled Tuesday. Judge Tim Kelley of the 19th Judicial District Court reversed his previous ruling that would have delayed evidence gathering and depositions for six months.
"Judge Kelly reversed his previous ruling and lifted the stay due to a procedural error on the part of the Attorney General (Buddy Caldwell)'s office," said Sonny Cranch, spokesman for the Gaithersburg-based Client Services Network Inc., or CNSI.
Kelly issued the ruling after documents filed by Caldwell's office favoring the stay were found to have been handed to CNSI's legal team just an hour before proceedings started. CNSI previously claimed they had been delivered to the judge during a secret meeting from which the firm was excluded.
"(The state) delivered documents to him to influence his earlier decision and they didn't follow procedure notifying opposing council," Cranch said. "Even though the documents related to something else altogether, we can pursue with our civil action and that's what we want to do."
CNSI's civil suit was filed in May after their nearly $200 million contract with the state was canceled amid allegations that then Secretary of Health and Hospitals Bruce Greenstein improperly intervened on the behalf of the firm. Greenstein, who resigned a week after the suit was filed, was formerly employed by CNSI.
Shortly after, state and federal officials began separate criminal investigations into the allegations. A grand jury was empaneled later in May, but Kelly ordered a stay in the suit in July after Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration said the civil proceedings could conflict with the state investigation.
The lifting of the stay will now allow CNSI to move forward with its civil suit. Cranch said he was unsure whether the Attorney General's office would appeal the ruling. Calls to Caldwell's office on Tuesday were not immediately returned.