Empire Blue Cross & Blue Shield v. Janet Greeson's A Place For Us, Inc.

Aetna Life Insurance Co. (“Aetna”) appeals a district court’s denial of its motion to intervene in an earlier, settled civil law suit. Aetna requested that the district court modify protective orders it had previously issued, which sealed the documents produced during the lengthy discovery in the earlier action. We affirm.

BACKGROUND

In August 1992, Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield, et al. (“Blue Cross”), filed a federal complaint against Janet Greeson’s A Place For Us, Inc. (“APFU”), and twelve other defendants, including various hospital and physician corporations. 1 The suit alleged that APFU had fraudulently billed millions of dollars to Blue Cross for providing psychiatric care, when in truth APFU operated weight-loss clinics that were not covered by the relevant policies. After a very lengthy discovery, but before trial, the parties settled the suit. As part of the settlement, the district court executed a protective order (in addition to, and much more restrictive than, a protective order it had executed early on), sealing the discovery that had already taken place.

*1219 Aetna had been aware of the suit against APFU since October 1992. Aetna had repeatedly been in…