It took over two years, but Medtox prevailed on summary judgment against Defendant Gateway, having already settled with Co-Defendant, Tris. From the summary judgment decision in Medtox’s favor, it appears that Gateway had been hiding behind Tris. Tris settled out of the suit and Gateway lost its cover…
Briefly, the case involved medical testing ultimately performed for Tris by Medtox and Gateway. Tris balked at making full payments, settled for a discounted amount (dropping its counterclaims against Medtox) and Gateway hoped that it could essentially skate free since Tris settled with Medtox.
Gateway’s strategy appears to have been badly compromised by Tris’ settlement and by the fact that Gateway waited two months after Tris’ dismissal to move to amend to add a third-party claim for indemnification. U.S. Mag. Judge Jeanne J. Graham (D. Minn.) rejected the attempt to add Tris as a cross-claim defendant and U.S. District Court Judge Ann D. Montgomery (D. Minn.) affirmed Judge Graham’s decision.