Fiederlein v. Boutselis

952 N.E.2d 847, 2011 Ind. App. LEXIS 1628, 2011 WL 3759201
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedAugust 25, 2011
DocketNo. 79A04-1010-PL-632
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 952 N.E.2d 847 (Fiederlein v. Boutselis) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fiederlein v. Boutselis, 952 N.E.2d 847, 2011 Ind. App. LEXIS 1628, 2011 WL 3759201 (Ind. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

OPINION

KIRSCH, Judge.

John Fiederlein, M.D. (“Fiederlein”) filed a complaint against Alex Boutselis, M.D. (“Boutselis”) and Steve Jones, M.D. (“Jones”) (collectively “the Defendants”) alleging breach of contract, promissory es-toppel, unjust enrichment, conversion, criminal conversion, interference with employment relationship, and fraud. The dispute arises in regard to an offer for Fied-erlein to become a member in the medical practice where the parties were employed and which was owned by Unity Healthcare, L.L.C. (“Unity”). Boutselis and Jones filed a counterclaim, requesting a refund of money they claimed was an advance paid in anticipation of Fiederlein’s membership, which was never consummated. Fieder-lein appeals the trial court’s order, raising the following consolidated issues:

I. Whether the trial court erred when it granted summary judgment in favor of the Defendants on Fiederlein’s claims of breach of contract, promissory estoppel, unjust enrichment, interference with employment relationship, and fraud; and
II. Whether the trial court erred in denying Fiederlein’s motion for summary judgment as to the Defendants’ counterclaim.

The Defendants cross-appeal, raising the following, restated issue:

III. Whether the trial court erred when it failed to enter summary judgment against Fiederlein on all of his claims, including his unjust enrichment claim as it pertains to the capital account refunds.

We affirm in part and reverse in part.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY1

This case arises from a dispute between Fiederlein and the Defendants. All of the parties were radiologists working together at Unity. The Defendants were already members of Unity when Fiederlein started working there in 2002. All three doctors worked in the InnerVision division of Unity, an outpatient imaging center. Compensation was paid to each doctor by Unity according to Unity’s compensation structure, which under Unity’s Third Amended Operating Agreement (“the Operating Agreement”), effective October 2003, was based on the membership class of each doctor. At the time the Operating Agree[852]*852ment went into effect, both Boutselis and Jones were Class C members of Unity, while Fiederlein was a Class F member. Under the Operating Agreement, Unity was contractually bound to grant a Class C membership promotion to any member that the Defendants recommended. The Defendants also had another business called Integra Imaging Partners, L.L.C. (“Integra”), which was the professional division of their business. The Defendants were the sole partners in Integra until January 1, 2003.

In late 2002, a proposal was drafted by the Defendants (“the proposal”) and presented to Fiederlein and another doctor, Tim Lach (“Lach”), in December 2002. The proposal contained terms under which Fiederlein and Lach would become partners in Integra. The terms related to Integra were agreed upon by Fiederlein, and he became a partner in Integra on January 1, 2003. The proposal also contained provisions whereby both Fiederlein and Lach could acquire voting rights and share in the profits of InnerVision. Appellant’s App. at 63. However, the proposal did not mention anything regarding making Fiederlein a Class C member in Unity as such a member classification did not exist until the Operating Agreement took effect in October 2003. The proposal was drafted with the presumption that there would be four people involved in the agreement — Boutselis, Jones, Fiederlein, and Lach. Although Fiederlein agreed with the terms contained in the proposal, Lach did not, and he eventually left InnerVision and Integra. He is not a party to this action.

The proposal also included requirements for Fiederlein to attain a promotion at InnerVision and begin to share in the profits. Id. These included drafting and executing internal agreements relating to In-nerVision, signing for an equal share of InnerVision’s line of credit, signing Inner-Vision’s lease, and establishing preferential death, disability, and retirement benefit agreements for the Defendants as founding members of InnerVision. Id. None of these documents was ever executed.

The Operating Agreement became effective in October 2003. The classification of Class C member was created, and the Defendants were the sole Class C members under the Operating Agreement. Id. at 276, 287. Fiederlein was classified as a Class F member. The Operating Agreement specified the method for determining the compensation to which all physicians, including the parties, would be entitled from Unity. Id. at 276, 287. From October 2003 until August 2005, the Defendants’ compensation from Unity was calculated under the Class C member formula contained in the Operating Agreement, and Fiederlein was compensated under the Class F member formula. Id. at 277, 288.

Between 2000 and 2003, distributions of income that should have been made to the existing Unity members were instead diverted by Unity to capital expenditures. Id. at 277, 288. The members whose income was diverted paid taxes on that income, even though the compensation was withheld from them by Unity. Id. at 277, 288. In 2005 after an accounting review, Unity discovered accounting errors with the members’ capital accounts. As a result, each member, who had compensation converted to a capital account between 2000 and 2003, had their capital accounts recalculated and received a refund in 2005 from their capital accounts. Id. at 277, 288. The Defendants each received a refund totaling approximately $190,000. Fiederlein had only been a member of Unity for a short time when these capital contributions were initially made, and as a result, little or none of his prior compensation had been withheld. Id. at 277, 288. Because Fiederlein had made no signifi[853]*853cant extra capital account contribution between 2000 and 2008, he received no significant capital account adjustment or refund. Id. at 277, 288.

In August 2005, Unity sold a one-half interest in InnerVision to a hospital. Unity determined that the sale proceeds were to be considered as profits relating to In-nerVision. Based on this determination, the profits were to be paid out according to the member compensation formula contained in the Operating Agreement. The Defendants sent a letter to Unity, dated August 30, 2005 (“August 30 letter”), requesting that the profits from the sale be reallocated according to the letter. The letter reallocated the profits as follows: (1) the Defendants were to each receive an initial “Buy-in Gross-up” of $620,348, which represented $500,000 in initial buy-in, grossed up for payment of taxes; (2) Fiederlein was to receive his Class F allocation; (3) and the remaining proceeds of $2,444,805 were to be split equally between the parties with each receiving $814,935. Id. at 296-97. The letter also expressly stated that they were still working on the “internal agreements that will result in Class C ownership for ... Fiederlein” and that they wished to “allocate an equal third of Class C profits to ... Fiederlein while that process is taking place.” Id. at 296. Fiederlein accepted the $814,935 allocation.

The Chief Financial Officer for Unity, Michelle Troyer (“Troyer”), testified that, after the August 30 letter, Fiederlein was treated for all financial purposes as a Class C member. He was paid an allocation of income as a Class C member would from that time forward. Id.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
952 N.E.2d 847, 2011 Ind. App. LEXIS 1628, 2011 WL 3759201, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fiederlein-v-boutselis-indctapp-2011.