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Bowman et al. vs. International Business Machines et al.
The Situation
In April 2011, representative plaintiffs filed suit on behalf of a proposed class of Medicaid beneficiaries in Indiana against International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) and other defendants, who had contracted with the state of Indiana to manage its Medicaid claim processing system. Plaintiffs claimed that Defendants’ actions had illegally interrupted, reduced, or terminated class members’ Medicaid benefits.
NERA's Role
A NERA team led by Dr. Sumanth Addanki was retained by counsel for IBM to analyze economic issues regarding certification of the plaintiffs’ proposed class and review the reports and testimony of two plaintiffs’ experts. In his expert report, Dr. Addanki explained why class membership could not be determined without individualized, subjective inquiry and that common data or evidence could not be used to establish class-wide impact. In addition, he demonstrated that Plaintiffs’ experts had not shown that common evidence or data could be used to determine which defendant, if any, was responsible for each class member’s alleged injury. Dr. Addanki also explained why there was no economically valid way to calculate class damages on a group basis.
The Result
In 2013, the Court granted Defendants’ motions to exclude the opinions of Plaintiffs’ two experts and denied Plaintiffs’ motion for class certification. In 2014, the case was dismissed with prejudice.