Health Call of Detroit v. Atrium Home & Health Care Services, Inc

695 N.W.2d 337, 265 Mich. App. 79
Michigan Court of Appeals·Decided March 17, 2005·No. Docket 244633·Published·Cited by 6 cases

Opinion

WILDER, J.

Plaintiff Health Call of Detroit appeals as of right from that portion of the trial court’s order granting partial summary disposition in favor of defendants pursuant to MCR 2.116(0(10), which dismissed counts I and II in part. 1 We reverse and remand for reinstatement of plaintiffs dismissed claims and, because we are required to follow the holding in Environair, Inc v Steelcase, Inc, 190 Mich App 289; 475 NW2d 366 (1991), our remand is with instructions that while plaintiffs claims in counts I and II may proceed, plaintiff is to be limited to the recovery of nominal damages to the extent its damages were caused by the loss of plaintiffs at-will contract to provide home nursing services to Cierra Harris. Further, pursuant to MCR 7.215(J)(2), we declare a conflict with Environair and state that if we were not obligated to follow Environair, we would reverse and remand but would not limit plaintiffs recovery of damages on counts I and II to nominal damages as a matter of law.

i

Plaintiff is a Michigan corporation that provides nursing and medical services for home care. Individual defendants, Katrina Johnson, Dwight Robinson, and Damita Borner, who are licensed practical nurses, en *81 tered at-will independent contractor agreements with plaintiff in which they agreed to provide home nursing services to plaintiffs clients. The defendant nurses’ respective contracts contained a noncompetition clause, effective for two years following the termination of the independent contractor agreements. As relevant to the instant case, Wendy Williams, the mother of Cierra Harris, an infant, entered into an at-will contract with plaintiff for the provision of twenty-four hour home nursing services to Harris. The defendant nurses provided the contracted services to Harris under the independent contractor agreements between the defendant nurses and plaintiff.

Plaintiff alleges that defendant Atrium Home & Health Care Services, Inc. (Atrium), which was also in the business of providing home nursing care services, contacted defendant Borner and urged her to terminate her contract with plaintiff and persuade defendants Johnson and Robinson to also terminate their contracts with plaintiff, in order that Atrium could thereafter provide home nursing care services to Harris. Plaintiff further alleges that the defendant nurses terminated their respective independent contractor agreements with plaintiff, subsequently contracted with Atrium, and continued to provide home nursing care services to Harris after leaving plaintiffs employ and contracting with Atrium.

In its complaint, plaintiff alleged in count I that Atrium tortiously interfered with plaintiffs contract with Borner, that Borner and Atrium tortiously interfered with plaintiffs contracts with Johnson and Robinson, and that Borner and Atrium tortiously interfered with plaintiffs contract, business relationship, and expectancies with Williams concerning Harris. Count II alleged that the defendant nurses breached paragraph *82 12 of their respective contracts, which paragraph precluded solicitation of, or competition with, plaintiffs clients for two years after the expiration of their respective at-will agreements. Defendants moved for partial summary disposition pursuant to MCR 2.116(C)(10), asserting that plaintiff as a matter of law was limited to a recovery of nominal damages on its claims.

On count I, the trial court granted summary disposition in favor of Borner with regard to plaintiffs claim of tortious interference with the Harris contract, but permitted the tortious interference claim to proceed against Atrium. Regarding count II, the trial court granted summary disposition in favor of the defendant nurses “to the extent” that “the damages [claimed by plaintiff] are measured by the loss of the [Harris] contract.” The trial court determined that such damages were speculative because they were based on plaintiffs loss of an at-will contract to provide services to Harris. The parties stipulated the dismissal of all remaining claims without prejudice, and this appeal ensued.

ii

On appeal, a trial court’s grant or denial of summary disposition is reviewed de novo. First Pub Corp v Parfet, 468 Mich 101, 104; 658 NW2d 477 (2003). This Court must review the record in the same manner as must the trial court to determine whether the movant was entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Morales v Auto Owners Ins Co, 458 Mich 288, 294; 582 NW2d 776 (1998). “A motion for summary disposition under MCR 2.116(0(10) tests whether there is factual support for a claim.” Shepherd Montessori Ctr Milan v Ann Arbor Charter Twp, 259 Mich App 315, 324; 675 NW2d 271 (2003). “When deciding a motion for summary disposi *83 tion, a court must consider the pleadings, affidavits, depositions, admissions and other documentary evidence submitted in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party.” Id.

in

We first note that the trial court erred by granting a partial dismissal of plaintiffs claims for tortious interference with contract and breach of contract. In Patillo v Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States, 199 Mich App 450, 457; 502 NW2d 696 (1992), this Court held that a plaintiff may properly “maintain an action for tortious interference with an at-will employment contract.” Similarly, an at-will contract may properly contain a noncompetition clause. MCL 445.774a; see also Thermatool Corp v Borzym, 227 Mich App 366, 372; 575 NW2d 334 (1998). Nevertheless, under this Court’s holding in Environair, even though plaintiff may properly proceed with these claims, plaintiff may not recover more than nominal damages for any proven breach.

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Health Call of Detroit v. Atrium Home & Health Care Services, Inc, 695 N.W.2d 337, 265 Mich. App. 79 (Mich. Ct. App. 2005).

695 N.W.2d 337 (Health Call of Detroit v. Atrium Home & Health Care Services, Inc) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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