Gopal

In this wrongful death and negligence action decedent Saismorn Gopal (Gopal) was admitted to the emergency room at Kaiser Foundation Hospitals (Kaiser Hospitals) and died after she was transferred to another hospital. She was not a member of the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. (Health Plan). Appellant Saismorn Gopal’s husband and trustee of Gopal’s estate sued Kaiser Hospitals, Southern California Permanente Medical Group (SCPMG), Health Plan, and others, alleging that, in violation of California law, Kaiser Hospitals, SCPMG, and Health Plan treated Gopal differently than they would have treated a member and that the different treatment caused her death.

Here we are only concerned with the liability of Health Plan in whose favor the trial court granted summary judgment. On appeal, plaintiffs challenge the trial court’s rejection of plaintiffs’ enterprise theory of liability. Under this enterprise theory, Health Plan, Kaiser Hospitals and SCPMG formed a single enterprise, and Health Plan could be held liable for any breach of duty by Kaiser Hospitals or SCPMG because the three entities should legally be treated as a single entity. Because the trial court correctly…