Judge Dismisses Attorney’s Defamation Lawsuit

A federal judge has dismissed a Claremont attorney’s defamation suit against Aetna’s chief executive for calling him an “ambulance-chasing lawyer.”

After a San Bernardino County jury slapped an Aetna HMO subsidiary earlier this year with $120 million in damages for denying care to a cancer-stricken patient, Richard L. Huber, chairman of the parent company, told the Hartford Courant:

“You had a skillful, ambulance-chasing lawyer, a politically motivated judge and a weeping widow. That’s no way to get justice.”

Consumer lawyer Michael J. Bidart, who won the case against Aetna, sued Huber in Los Angeles federal court, contending that his reputation had been sullied.

The insurance company countered that Huber’s comments were protected by the 1st Amendment because he was speaking figuratively to express his views about lawyers.

In a decision made public Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Robert J. Kelleher granted Aetna’s motion to dismiss the suit with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled.

Bidart could not be reached for comment. He originally sued Aetna on behalf of the family of David Goodrich, a San Bernardino County prosecutor who died from a rare form of stomach cancer. Aetna refused to approve special treatments for Goodrich recommended by the company’s own doctors.