An attorney representing Pleasant Bay Ambulance Service, Inc. in its lawsuit against the City of Russellville, City of Red Bay and Franklin County has filed a motion asking the court to remove local attorneys Roger Bedford, Jr. and Danny McDowell as attorneys of record for the defendants.
Tuscumbia attorney Billy Underwood, who filed the lawsuit earlier this year in Franklin County Circuit Court, claims Bedford and McDowell will be called as witnesses by Pleasant Bay and therefore are prohibited from actively defending the lawsuit.
Franklin County Circuit Judge Terry Dempsey held a hearing last month on Underwood's motion, along with motions to dismiss filed by the three defendants. The lawsuit alleges the defendants engaged in collusion and bid rigging during the bid process that ultimately saw Shoals Ambulance Service awarded the first contract for a single ambulance provider for Franklin County.
Underwood's attempt to have Bedford and McDowell removed would become moot if Dempsey grants the motions to dismiss filed by the defendants. Bedford is listed as an attorney of record for Red Bay and Franklin County and McDowell for the City of Russellville.
The motion to dismiss filed by Franklin County asserts that Pleasant Bay has no legal recourse to sue from its status as an unsuccessful bidder. Pleasant Bay was one of four ambulance services to submit bids for the Franklin County contract last year.
Mark Maclin, attorney for Franklin County, cites Alabama Code Sec. 11-87-3, which expressly authorizes the governing bodies of any county or municipality to “enter into contracts for the provision of ambulance service within their boundaries and to appropriate and pay public funds for the services provided under the contracts.”
Maclin also cited an Alabama Attorney General's opinion from 2012 that confirms the legality of a county or municipality contracting exclusively with one ambulance service.
Maclin's motion also seeks to dismiss an amended count of the complaint whereby Pleasant Bay alleges that the ordinance is unconstitutional since Franklin County doesn't allow ambulances coming through the county in an emergency to stop at Russellville Hospital without violating the ordinance.
Maclin's response was that the ordinance allows an exemption in case of an ambulance “rendering any assistance during a catastrophe or major emergency when the ambulances of the contracted service provider are either insufficient or inadequate.” Therefore, he asserts, no valid claim exists.
The City of Red Bay's assertions on its motion to dismiss are based on the fact that Pleasant Bay had no business license with Red Bay. Therefore, without such a contract or business relationship, no claim of tortuous interference with contract may be asserted.
Pleasant Bay, owned and operated by Elzie Malone, resumed answering calls for ambulance service in Red Bay last summer after Transcare Ambulance abruptly pulled out of the city on May 31. Malone's company continued service until the Shoals Ambulance contract went into effect.
Additionally, Red Bay's attorneys assert that Pleasant Bay's window to file for any injunctive relief is barred since it was not filed prior to the execution of Shoals Ambulance's contract with Franklin County.
Attorneys argued both sides of these motions last month, and a decision from Dempsey is pending. Dempsey called for all parties to submit proposed orders for disposition. As of June 22, 2015, only defendants City of Red Bay and Franklin County had responded to the court's order.
In his answer to the motions to dismiss, Underwood states that Pleasant Bay “ is licensed through the United States government and, as such, is a federal or state agency.” Underwood makes the same argument as to Pleasant Bay's licensing from the Alabama Department of Public Health, authorizing it to have an ambulance service within every county in Alabama.
Accordingly, Underwood maintains, Pleasant Bay is exempt from the Franklin County Minimum Standards for EMS Providers due to its status as a federal and/or state agency.
Pleasant Bay continues to transport federally paid Medicare and Medicaid patients but does not receive any 911 calls, pursuant to the terms of the contract between Shoals Ambulance and Pleasant Bay.
Malone's affidavit, filed with the court, states: “I have a federal permit to transport federally insured patients. I am only allowed to charge federal-guideline monies and, as such, am specifically targeted to carry federal Medicare and Medicaid patients. I have a certificate for it.”
He also states that Pleasant Bay's state license was current through June 30, 2015.
Underwood said the county's ordinance specifically omits “state and federal agencies” from the minimum standards of EMS providers.
