SAN FRANCISCO (LN) — U.S. District Judge Edward M. Chen on Tuesday approved a stipulation allowing relator Ronda Osinek to receive approximately $50.7 million of her $95.4 million share of a $556 million False Claims Act settlement against Kaiser Permanente. The judge rejected a last-minute objection from Jeffrey Mazik, a third-party claimant who argued the full amount should be withheld pending his appeal.
The government, Osinek, and Kaiser had previously agreed that the United States would pay Osinek roughly $95.4 million as her relator share. Following an appeal by Mazik, who argued he was also entitled to a portion of the settlement, the government and Osinek reached a new agreement to pay her $50.7 million immediately while depositing the remaining balance with the court.
Under the stipulation, if Mazik’s appeal fails, Osinek would be entitled to the full balance. If Mazik prevails, Osinek reserves the right to seek the balance while the government reserves the right to renegotiate the share amount “given multiple relators’ competing claims to the government’s recovery.”
Mazik filed an objection to the stipulation, arguing that the full relator share should be paid now because he did not challenge the $95.4 million figure and only sought payment out of the government’s share. He speculated that the government was attempting to “pit[] the Osinek relators against [him], creating an unnecessary conflict where none exists.”
Chen overruled the objection, ruling that Mazik lacked standing to assert the interests of either relator. The judge also denied Mazik’s request for the government and relators to produce their agreement regarding the relator share, citing a prior ruling that whether Mazik is entitled to a share depends on the scope of his claims and the U.S.’s claims, not on what the government agreed to pay the relators.
The court ordered the stipulation approved forthwith.
Mazik’s appeal of the court’s earlier denial of his motion for a share of the settlement is pending.