A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit alleging a group of central Iowa pathologists conspired to maintain a monopoly at the expense of patients.

The lawsuit was one of three involving allegations of unfair competition, harassment, retaliation and discrimination among central Iowa pathologists.

The suit was filed in May 2024 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa by four pathologists who last year established Goldfinch Laboratory of Urbandale – physicians Tiffani Milless, Caitlin Halverson, Renee Ellerbroek and Jared Abbott.

The four sued their previous employers, Iowa Pathology Associates of Des Moines and Regional Laboratory Consultants, alleging the two companies tried to suppress competition for pathology services in central Iowa and maintain a monopoly, all in violation of state and federal law.

Each of the companies provides dermatopathology and other pathology services for patients in central Iowa whose physicians require laboratory services that provide medical diagnoses from biological specimens.

The lawsuit alleged that since 2021, IPA and RLC pressured its pathologists to sign employment agreements that include a no-compete clause. At the time, the four IPA-employed pathologists who would later depart and form Goldfinch refused to sign the agreement.

The lawsuit claims the agreement was not intended to prohibit the use of confidential corporate information and was instead aimed at maintaining IPA’s and RLC’s monopoly on services.

As part of its lawsuit, Goldfinch accused IPA of refusing to share biopsy slides with Goldfinch pathologists, even when those slides were required to ensure the continuity of care offered to patients and even when, according to Goldfinch, the refusal “could well have caused harm to patients.”

IPA and RLC denied any wrongdoing and filed a motion to have the case dismissed. U.S. District Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger recently granted the motion after finding that Goldfinch failed to define a geographic market in which consumers had no other source for pathology services.

“Even assuming central Iowa is where the defendants draw a sufficiently large portion of their business, Goldfinch has not sufficiently alleged a plausible reason why potential referral sources cannot practicably turn to alternative sources outside central Iowa,” the judge ruled. “Goldfinch has not plausibly identified a relevant market as required to allege attempted monopolization.”

Two other lawsuits still pending

The federal lawsuit followed a still-pending state court lawsuit filed by IPA and RLC against the four Goldfinch partners in late 2022 that is in the final stages of litigation.

That lawsuit seeks to block Goldfinch from soliciting IPA clients or using IPA information, and alleges the Goldfinch pathologists were “flagrantly, rampantly and disloyally working against” IPA’s interests even before they left IPA.

A bench trial in that case was held last month, but the court has yet to issue a decision and recent post-trial briefs are sealed from public view.

Separately, two of the Goldfinch pathologists — Tiffani Milless and Caitlin Halverson – have filed a discrimination lawsuit against IPA and RLC, alleging they were paid $200,000 to $350,000 annually, which they claim was far less than what some of the less qualified male doctors were paid.

A trial in that case is scheduled for August 2025.