Angelopoulos v. Keystone Orthopedic Specialists, S.C.

207 F. Supp. 3d 850, 118 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5826, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 126168, 2016 WL 4945012
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedSeptember 16, 2016
DocketCase No. 12-cv-5836
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 207 F. Supp. 3d 850 (Angelopoulos v. Keystone Orthopedic Specialists, S.C.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Angelopoulos v. Keystone Orthopedic Specialists, S.C., 207 F. Supp. 3d 850, 118 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5826, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 126168, 2016 WL 4945012 (N.D. Ill. 2016).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

Robert M. Dow, Jr., United States District Judge

Nicholas Angelopoulos (“Plaintiff’), an anesthesiologist, brings suit against his former business associate, Martin R. Hall (“Hall”), and the two businesses in which they were associates, Keystone Orthopedic Specialists, S.C. (“Keystone”), and Wachn, LLC (“WACHN”) (collectively, “Defendants”), for their alleged participation in a fraud to deprive Plaintiff of money to which he was entitled.1 In his governing Third Amended Complaint [222], Plaintiff alleges claims against Defendants for fraudulently filing an information return in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7432 (Count One); common law fraud (Count Two); breach of fiduciary duty (Count Three); breach of contract (Counts Five and Six); and unjust enrichment (Count Seven). Plaintiff also seeks a determination of the fair value of his distributional interest pursuant to 805 ILCS § 180/35-65 (Count Four). Defendants bring counterclaims against Plaintiff for breach of the purported WACHN Operating Agreement (Count I) and breach of contract (Count II). Currently before the Court is Defendants’ motion for summary judgment [269], which is directed at all counts except Count I of Defendants’ counterclaims. For the reasons stated below, Defendants’ motion [269] is denied in full. This case is set for further status on September 20, 2016 at 9:15 a.m. Plaintiffs motion to set a trial date [300] will be heard at the same time.

I. Background

The Court takes the relevant facts primarily from the parties’ Local Rule (“L.R.”) 56.1 statements: (1) Defendants’ Local Rule 56.1(a)(3) Statement of Facts [274]; (2) Plaintiffs Local Rule 56.1 Response and Statement of Additional Facts [284]; and (3) Defendants’ Response to Plaintiffs 56.1 Statement of Additional Facts [294]. The following facts are undisputed except where otherwise noted.

Plaintiff and Hall are both medical doctors who reside- and are licensed to practice medicine in Illinois. Plaintiff is a board-certified anesthesiologist and Hall specializes in orthopedics. In or around December 2003, Plaintiff met with Hall about joining Keystone as a physician. Keystone is an Illinois professional corporation with its principal place of business in Hazel Crest, Illinois and locations in Hazel Crest and Munster, Indiana. At all times relevant to this opinion, Hall was the president, secretary, and owner of Keystone. Keystone’s Schedule K-ls list Hall as the 100% owner of Keystone’s shares. The parties agree that Hall controlled Keystone.

Plaintiff and Hall entered into an oral contract, under which Plaintiff practiced medicine at Keystone from 2004 until late 2007. Two other doctors, Dr. Daniel Weber (“Weber”) and Dr. Mark Chang (“Chang”) also worked at Keystone. Pursuant to their oral agreement, Plaintiff and Hall agreed that Plaintiff would receive $25,000 per month as a draw and would receive revenues generated by his patient billings plus 25 percent of certain other revenues gen[854]*854erated by Keystone, less Plaintiffs percent share of certain expenses, including equipment. The parties dispute whether Keystone purchased certain equipment, purportedly worth $225,000, for Plaintiffs use or for the use of the practice. When Plaintiff joined Keystone, his share of the expenses was 25 percent; Hall, Weber, and Chang each paid 25 percent, as well. Later in 2004, Plaintiffs share of expenses rose to 26.5 percent as part of an agreement with Hall wherein Hall would pay a reduced 20.5% of the expenses in exchange for handling certain administrative duties for Keystone. The parties dispute whether their oral agreement gave Hall a right to unilaterally change its terms.

The parties dispute whether Plaintiff was a shareholder or partner in Keystone (as Plaintiff contends) or an employee of Keystone (as Defendants contend). Defendants point to evidence, for instance, that Keystone is an S-Corp, and assert that an S-Corp cannot have partners. Plaintiff points to a variety of documents in the record, including deposition testimony from Plaintiff, Dr. Chang, and Dr. Weber that they thought they were partners in Keystone (Plaintiffs binder of deposition exhibits, Angelopoulos deposition at 155-56; Chang deposition at 8, 27; Weber deposition at 56 (filed under seal)); Dr. Chang’s resignation letter demanding that Keystone “repurchase Dr. Chang’s 25% interest in Keystone at fair market value” (Plaintiffs binder of document exhibits, Ex. 63 at NA000087 (filed under seal)); a draft shareholder agreement (id. at Ex. 67); Keystone meeting agendas showing discussion of a partnership agreement and shareholder agreement (e.g., id. at Ex. 71); an email discussing changes to the partnership agreement (id. at Ex. 73); and Keystone profit and loss statements showing Hall, Chang, and Weber , sharing Keystone’s income (id. at Ex. 14).

The parties also dispute how many other employees Keystone had; Defendants point to deposition testimony that there were 10 to 15, while Plaintiff points to deposition testimony suggesting that the number was substantially -higher—for example, Dr. Weber’s testimony that he thought there were up to 25 or 30 employees between 2004 and 2007. See Plaintiffs binder of deposition exhibits, Ex. N at 91 (filed under seal).

In 2004, Weber, Plaintiff, Chang, Hall, and Dr. Phillip Narcissi (“Narcissi”) formed an Illinois limited liability company called WACHN. At all times relevant to this opinion, Hall was managing member of WACHN. Each of the five physicians was a 20 percent member of WACHN. The parties dispute whether Plaintiff ever entered into a valid operating agreement with WACHN. Plaintiff acknowledges that a draft “WACHN Operating Agreement” was prepared, but disputes that he agreed to or signed a draft. Instead, Plaintiff contends that his signature was forged in a draft (in part using signature stamps kept by Hall’s secretary) and disputes the veracity of deposition testimony from bank employee Anthony Carollo (“Carollo”) about witnessing the execution of the WACHN Operating Agreement.

WACHN purchased medical condominiums in Hazel Crest, Illinois, using two promissory notes and a mortgage in the total amount of $1,448,000 from Great Lakes Bank. WACHN also obtained a $593,740 construction loan from Great Lakes Bank to build out the space. In order to obtain the mortgage and promissory notes, each of the Keystone physicians was required to contribute $110,000 and to sign a personal guaranty for the entire amount of the loan. Plaintiff and the other physicians complied with these requirements, and WACHN obtained the mortgage and construction loan. The par[855]*855ties dispute whether, in order to obtain the loan, Hall represented to the bank that Plaintiff and the other physicians were each 25 percent owners in Keystone.

Around 2006, each of the physicians at Keystone was required to contribute $100,000 to a “cash reserve” in Keystone’s account at Great Lakes Bank. The parties dispute the purpose of this contribution. Defendants contend that it was necessary to avoid paying checking fees to Great Lakes Bank, while Plaintiff points to evidence that the $100,000 from each physician was a capital contribution for ownership shares in Keystone.

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207 F. Supp. 3d 850, 118 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5826, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 126168, 2016 WL 4945012, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/angelopoulos-v-keystone-orthopedic-specialists-sc-ilnd-2016.