Bariana v. Florida Health Sciences Center, Inc., D/B/A Tampa General Hospital

CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedMay 16, 2025
Docket2D2024-1355
StatusPublished

This text of Bariana v. Florida Health Sciences Center, Inc., D/B/A Tampa General Hospital (Bariana v. Florida Health Sciences Center, Inc., D/B/A Tampa General Hospital) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bariana v. Florida Health Sciences Center, Inc., D/B/A Tampa General Hospital, (Fla. Ct. App. 2025).

Opinion

DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA SECOND DISTRICT

CHRISTOPHER BARIANA, D.O.,

Appellant,

v.

FLORIDA HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER, INC., d/b/a TAMPA GENERAL HOSPITAL, and TAMPA GENERAL MEDICAL GROUP, INC., a Florida corporation,

Appellees.

No. 2D2024-1355

May 16, 2025

Appeal pursuant to Fla. R. App. P. 9.130 from the Circuit Court for Hillsborough County; Darren D. Farfante, Judge.

Kendra D. Presswood, Kiren Choudhry, and Gabriel T. Roberts of Scott Law Team, LLC, Jupiter, for Appellant.

Joseph H. Lang, Jr., Allison O. Kahn, and Alana Zorrilla-Gaston of Carlton Fields, P.A., Tampa, for Appellees.

MORRIS, Judge. Christopher Bariana, D.O. (Dr. Bariana), appeals an order granting a motion for temporary injunction filed by his former employer, Florida Health Sciences Center, Inc., doing business as Tampa General Hospital, and Tampa General Medical Group, Inc. (collectively referred to as Tampa General). We reverse the order granting the temporary injunction because the restrictive covenants on which it is based are unenforceable. I. Background In June 2023, Dr. Bariana filed a complaint against Tampa General, asserting claims for breach of contract, declaratory judgment, and unlawful retaliation in violation of Florida's Whistleblower Act. 1 On February 15, 2024, Dr. Bariana filed a second amended complaint, alleging a count for retaliation in violation of section 448.102(3), Florida Statutes (2022), a count seeking a declaratory judgment that his restrictive covenants are unenforceable, and a count for breach of contract. Dr. Bariana alleged that he had been employed by Tampa General as a physician of thoracic surgery with a specialty in thoracic oncology and that he had executed an employment agreement on January 3, 2022, which contained restrictive covenants. Dr. Bariana alleged that during his employment, he was subjected to various forms of mistreatment, including a physical battery by a supervisor. He alleged that he reported the mistreatment on two occasions and that the mistreatment continued after both reports. As a result, he resigned from his employment on April 28, 2023. On February 23, 2024, Tampa General filed an emergency motion for temporary injunctive relief pursuant to section 542.335, Florida Statutes (2022), and Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.610. Tampa General alleged that Dr. Bariana had begun employment as a thoracic surgeon at Bayfront Health Medical Group and that such employment

1 Dr. Bariana also filed a motion for declaratory judgment in June

2023, seeking a declaration of his legal obligations under the employment agreement, but the trial court granted Tampa General's motion to strike on the basis that declaratory relief was not appropriate at that time. 2 violated his restrictive covenants with Tampa General. The employment agreement between Dr. Bariana and Tampa General contains the following noncompetition and nonsolicitation provisions: 10.01 Noncompetition. Physician agrees that during the Term, and for a period of two (2) years following termination or Expiration of this Agreement, Physician shall not, directly or indirectly, enter into, engage in, invest, own, operate, manage or be employed by, or in any other way be affiliated with any person or entity that provides Thoracic Surgery medicine services within Hillsborough, Pinellas, Manatee, Pasco, Polk, Citrus, Charlotte, DeSoto, Hardee, Hernando, Highlands, Sarasota and Lee Counties (the "Restricted Area") or otherwise provide Thoracic Surgery medicine services anywhere in the Restricted Area other than at the Hospital and other locations designated by the Hospital. Physician acknowledges that the noncompetition covenants contained herein are meant to protect legitimate business interests of Employer and but for Physician agreeing to same, Employer would not have entered into this Agreement. 10.02 Nonsolicitation. Physician agrees that during the Term, and for a period of two (2) years following termination or Expiration of this Agreement, Physician shall not: (a) Engage or participate in any effort or act to induce or solicit, directly or indirectly, any patients, employees, insurance companies, managed care plans, Employer's customers or other customers of the business conducted by Employer, or the Hospital, to withdraw, curtail or terminate their business relationship with Employer or for services competitive with those of Employer or the Hospital, or assist, induce, help or join any other person or company in doing any of the above activities. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Physician may place general advertisements or engage in general solicitations that are not specifically targeted to Employer's patients or customers. (b) Solicit the services of any physician, consultant, or provider which renders services to, or for the benefit of, Employer's or the Hospital's customers, for Physician's use or benefit or for any other person's or company's use or benefit, or induce or help to induce any Physician, consultant or

3 provider that renders services to, or for the benefit of, Employer or the Hospital without Employer's prior written consent. Nothing herein would prohibit a formerly employed physician from making referrals to any other physician employed by Employer during or after the Term. (Emphasis added.) Dr. Bariana opposed the motion for temporary injunctive relief, arguing, among other things, (1) that Tampa General had breached the employment agreement and (2) that under section 542.336, which applies specifically to physicians, the restrictive covenants are not supported by a legitimate business interest. At the hearing on the motion for temporary injunctive relief, Tampa General presented the testimony of Dr. Bariana and Tyler Carpenter, Tampa General's Vice President of People and Talent. Dr. Bariana presented the testimony of Trina Espinola, M.D., Bayfront's Chief Medical Officer. On May 6, 2024, the trial court granted, in part, Tampa General's motion for temporary injunctive relief. The trial court found that Dr. Bariana violated the restrictive covenants by "(a) accept[ing] employment with a direct competitor, Bayfront, which provides thoracic surgery medicine services in Pinellas County, in direct violation of the unambiguous restrictions set forth in his Employment Agreement with Tampa General and (b) solicit[ing] Tampa General's referring physicians and employees customers [sic]." In regard to Tampa General's legitimate business interests, the trial court went on to find that [t]he Employment Agreement protects Tampa General's considerable investment in its confidential and proprietary information including the information it maintains concerning its patients, such as patient contact information[] and patient needs. Tampa General has specific patients and geographic locations that are protectable by the restrictive covenants and has made substantial investment to develop and maintain its patient base, patient goodwill, and physician referral services.

4 .... . . . Tampa General has legitimate business interests justifying the restrictive covenants laid out in the Employment Agreement. These include: a. Protection of valuable confidential business and professional information; b. Substantial relationships with specific prospective or existing patients and customers; c. The protection of patient, customer and client goodwill; and d. Protecting the value that Tampa General paid to build and market its thoracic surgery practice.

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Bariana v. Florida Health Sciences Center, Inc., D/B/A Tampa General Hospital, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bariana-v-florida-health-sciences-center-inc-dba-tampa-general-fladistctapp-2025.