Barot v. Susquehanna Physician Servs. — Mar. 2016 (Summary)

PHYSICIAN COMPENSATION

Barot v. Susquehanna Physician Servs.
No. 4:14-CV-00673 (M.D. Pa. Mar. 28, 2016)

The District Court of the Middle District of Pennsylvania denied a motion brought by a gastroenterologist compelling his former employer to produce the meeting minutes of the employer’s physician compensation committee that pertained to other physicians.  The hospital had already provided the gastroenterologist with the meeting minutes where the gastroenterologist’s compensation had been discussed.  However, the hospital refused to release the meeting minutes where the compensation of other physicians was discussed, arguing those minutes were confidential and not relevant to the gastroenterologist’s claim.  The district court agreed, noting that the other physicians did not seek the same amount of compensation as the gastroenterologist, nor did they practice in the same field of medicine.  The district court held the meeting minutes discussing other physicians’ compensation were not relevant to the gastroenterologist’s breach of contract claim.