RESIDENTS/BREACH OF CONTRACT

Reiner v. Carilion Health Sys., No. 7:06CV00114 (W.D. Va. July 17, 2006)

A one-year contract between a resident and a hospital provided that the resident could not resign prematurely except for health reasons, circumstances beyond his control, or by mutual agreement with the hospital. The resident then submitted a letter of resignation nearly three months before the end of the contractual term. In response, the hospital ordered the resident to leave the residency program. After being ordered out of the program, the resident (proceeding pro se) sued the hospital claiming that the hospital had breached the contract when it ordered him out of the program. The federal district court dismissed the lawsuit, noting that the party who commits the first breach of a contract cannot enforce the contract, as long as the breach goes to the "root of the contract." The court found that the resident's letter of resignation was considered a material breach, because it defeated the "essential purpose of the contract" and once a party commits a material breach, the other party is excused from performing its obligations under the contract.