State Farm v. 00330
In State Farm v. 00330 filed in 2020, State Farm claimed that Mr. Boyardee was the real owner of a clinic even though “Dr. Diane” was listed on sunbiz.org as the President. Also, “Dr. Diane” was actually misspelled—her legal name is actually “Diana.” Either someone registered the business on sunbiz.org for Dr. Diana or she forgot how to spell her own name! If you know a person named Diana then call her Diane by mistake and see what happens!
Also, Dr. Diana lived 160 miles from the clinic location. Another doctor, Dr. Camilla, admitted to State Farm that she was asked to serve as the “owner” of the clinic, but she declined. Mr. Boyardee was listed on subiz.org as the Registered Agent for the clinic and his wife was the office manager for the clinic. Mr. Boyardee was also listed as “owner” on the Orange County Tax Appraiser paperwork for the Tangible Tax. When State Farm SIU adjusters asked employees of the clinic to speak with the “owner”, they identified Mr. Boyardee, and not Dr. Diana. The employees also pointed out that Mr. Boyardee handed out paychecks every week. Dr. Diana filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy and did not list the clinic on her bankruptcy even though she was required to list everything she owned.
All of this was evidence that the clinic was not “wholly owned” by the doctor, which means State Farm was owed all of the money it previously paid to this clinic!
DISCLAIMER
This is based on a real court case that was previously filed against a medical provider/doctor. The case number has been partially redacted and names have been changed to protect the Defendants’ names. This example is posted to help educate others on the laws and potential pitfalls. This posting is not intended to embarrass or defame anyone. I have limited the information and simplified some of the facts in the lawsuit to reflect key points and make a complicated case easier to understand. This “example” is directly from a complaint filed by an insurance company, therefore, I am using the facts THEY presented. There are always two sides to a story so please understand this is just one side of the story. This information was found through records available to the public.