Hagen v. Siouxland Obstetrics and Gynecology, PC – Aug. 2015 (Summary)

WRONGFUL DISCHARGE – PHYSICIAN GROUP EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT

Hagen v. Siouxland Obstetrics and Gynecology, PC, Nos. 14-2580, 14-2648 (8th Cir. Aug. 20, 2015)

An OB-GYN who was formerly employed by a professional corporation brought an action against his former employer after he was terminated. The physician’s hospital privileges were suspended after an outburst when he used profanity and accused the hospital staff and one of his partners of killing an unborn baby (the high-risk mother had been admitted in premature labor). He told his partners, “I’m going to tell the patient, you know, to sue this hospital…. You know, we’re going to take [the hospital] down.” He had a history of “workplace conflict.” The other physicians in his group terminated him for cause (testifying that he was “abusive and erratic” and the subject of patient complaints). The court of appeals held that contractual protections in the physician’s employment agreement precluded the doctor from maintaining a claim for wrongful retaliatory discharge, reversing a jury verdict in favor of the physician.