Love v. Med. Coll. of Wis. — Apr. 2016 (Summary)

EMPLOYMENT AND CLINICAL PRIVILEGE ACTIONS

Love v. Med. Coll. of Wis.
Case No. 15-cv-0650 (E.D. Wis. Apr. 22, 2016)

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin granted in part and denied in part motions for summary judgment on False Claims Act (“FCA”) violation and various state tort law claims made by a surgeon against a hospital as well as the medical college that had employed the surgeon. The surgeon alleged that after complaining about the quality of care at the hospital, he was retaliated against by being removed from the call schedule, negative and false information being spread about him, his hospital privileges being revoked, and prospective employers being provided with negative and false information about him.  However, at the time of the surgeon’s ultimate separation from the defendant medical college, he signed a separation agreement that included a release from liability from certain defined claims that had arisen before the execution date of the agreement, which the medical college argued served as a bar to the surgeon’s claims against that defendant.

The court agreed that the release provision barred the surgeon’s FCA claims against the medical college, with the exception of one alleged act that had occurred after the separation agreement had been executed.  With regard to the claims against the hospital, the court held that the surgeon’s allegations of FCA violations were insufficient because they primarily involved the alleged acts of the medical college and, contrary to the surgeon’s assertions, the court held that the hospital could not be held vicariously liable for released claims.  The court also held that the surgeon could proceed with certain state law claims, including alleged defamatory acts against both parties that occurred after the execution of the separation agreement, as well as claims against the hospital based on vicarious liability involving certain named individuals who the surgeon was able to demonstrate were subject to the control of the hospital despite the fact that they were actually employed by the medical college.