A federal lawsuit against Dr. Emmanuel “Manny” Hostin, the husband of The View’s Sunny Hostin, has been dropped after he was previously accused of fraud.
Entertainment Weekly reported on Thursday, July 10 that the American Transit Insurance Company withdrew its lawsuit against the New York City orthopedic surgeon after first filing a complaint in January.
Emmanuel was accused of federal insurance fraud and “getting kickbacks by performing surgery and … billing a company that insured taxi companies and Uber and Lyft drivers,” as reported by the Daily Mail in January. Emmanuel’s attorney denied all the allegations on behalf of his client at the time.
According to a statement issued on Thursday to EW, the AITC said it “has voluntarily withdrawn the suit against Dr. Hostin, and dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice.” Per the outlet, the company added it has “agreed to make payment on the invoices submitted by Dr. Hostin to ATIC.”
‘The View’ Star Sunny Hostin’s Husband Emmanuel Named in Fraud Lawsuit
AITC added that Emmanuel was initially included in the lawsuit “because he holds a small share of a surgical center that was involved in the dispute.” However, he is now being dropped from the lawsuit “after further discussions with Dr. Hostin and his attorneys and investigation by ATIC.”
“Furthermore, ATIC deeply regrets any public speculation against Dr. Emmanuel Hostin, his wife, Sunny Hostin, or his children, which may have resulted from the lawsuit,” the statement concluded.
Hostins’ legal representative, Mark Geragos, told EW that Emmanuel and Sunny feel “vindicated” after the decision.
“American Transit, reportedly in financial straits and apparently in an attempt to avoid paying medical bills, named Dr. Emmanuel Hostin, a respected surgeon, in a lawsuit,” Geragos said via a statement.
He added, “In what can be described as a blatant attempt to weaponize Sunny Hostin’s celebrity, they tried to leverage a settlement. Dr. Hostin and Sunny refused to fold. They fought back, and today American Transit dismissed the case with prejudice, agreed to pay what was owed Dr. Hostin, and publicly apologized. Dr. Hostin, Sunny Hostin, and their family have been fully vindicated.”
Sunny Hostin’s Husband Emmanuel’s Lawsuit: Everything We Know
Emmanuel previously denied all claims against him via his attorney Daniel John Thwaites in January who told the Daily Mail that his client “denies each and every allegation.”
At the time, Thwaites described the lawsuit as a “blanket, scattershot, meritless lawsuit by a near-bankrupt insurance carrier.”
“It is meant to intimidate and harass doctors from collecting for care given to American Transit insureds and their passengers,” Thwaites continued. “American Transit has rushed into the lawsuit without ever conducting an examination of Dr. Hostin or expressing any concerns to his lawyers. The real story here is about an insurance carrier abusing the legal system to limit and restrict health care benefits to its insureds and their passengers, and write off its proper obligations.”
