Love v. Med. Coll. of Wis.

350 F. Supp. 3d 730
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Wisconsin
DecidedNovember 20, 2018
DocketCase No. 15-C-0650
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 350 F. Supp. 3d 730 (Love v. Med. Coll. of Wis.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Love v. Med. Coll. of Wis., 350 F. Supp. 3d 730 (E.D. Wis. 2018).

Opinion

LYNN ADELMAN, District Judge

Plaintiff Robert Love is a surgeon formerly employed by the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW).1 He brings this action against MCW and certain physicians currently or formerly employed by MCW. The case is before me on the following several motions: the MCW defendants' motion to dismiss portions of plaintiff's Third Amended Complaint ("TAC"), plaintiff's motion to compel production of certain documents, cross-motions for sanctions related to a discovery issue, and plaintiff's motions to restrict certain documents.

I. MOTION TO DISMISS PORTIONS OF THE THIRD AMENDED COMPLAINT

a. Background

Plaintiff, a transplant surgeon and professor, alleges that beginning in 2012 he was employed by MCW and performed surgeries at Froedtert, a hospital staffed by MCW faculty. ECF No. 194 at ¶¶ 17-29. His relationship with his employer and colleagues deteriorated; he went on a leave of absence on May 8, 2014. Id. at ¶ 217. Then, in on August 26, 2014 Dr. Love entered into a Separation Agreement with MCW (the "Separation Agreement"). Id. at ¶ 226. The Separation Agreement contained a release of claims, which provided:

In exchange for the benefits and payment to him described in this agreement, Dr. Love hereby irrevocably and unconditionally releases, waives, and fully and forever discharges MCW and its past and current agents, servants, officers, trustees, insurers, attorneys, and employees and their respective successors and assigns (the "Released Parties")
*734from and against any and all claims, liabilities, obligations, covenants, rights, demands, attorney fees and/or costs and damages of any nature whatsoever, whether known or unknown, anticipated or unanticipated, relating to or arising out of any agreement, act, omission, occurrence, transaction or matter up to and including the date of this Agreement, including without limitation, any and all claims relating to or arising out of his employment by MCW or the termination hereof.

ECF No. 194 at 83. Plaintiff alleges that even after he signed the Separation Agreement, his former colleagues continued to defame him and interfered with his job search by contacting potential employers to spread derogatory information about him.

Dr. Love filed this lawsuit in May, 2015. His allegations included retaliation in violation of the False Claims Act, defamation, tortious interference with prospective contractual relations, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. In its answer, MCW presented an affirmative defense that certain of plaintiff's claims were barred by the release contained in the Separation Agreement. MCW moved for judgment on the pleadings, and I agreed that the release was enforceable and barred any claims arising before August 26, 2014. ECF No. 51 at 3. Plaintiff subsequently filed two amended complaints, which I need not discuss in detail here.

The TAC, which is now before me, differs from earlier versions of the complaint in that it includes allegations that several individuals, including some defendants, engaged in a conspiracy to harm Dr. Love. Specifically, the complaint alleges that various MCW anesthesiologists, as well as MCW in-house counsel Sarah Cohn, harbored malice toward Dr. Love for various reasons including that he had complained to management about substandard care that the anesthesiologists had provided and that he had complained to Ms. Cohn about another MCW doctor's alleged Medicare fraud. ECF No. 194 at ¶¶ 159-162. The TAC alleges that these individuals went outside MCW's normal Quality Assessment (QA) process to compile a list of cases in which they alleged that Dr. Love had provided substandard care. Id. at ¶ 164. In order to compile this list, they improperly accessed and disclosed patient records, in violation of HIPAA. Id. at ¶¶ 168-69, 175. The TAC documents several instances of the anesthesiologists sharing information about Dr. Love's cases with each other, with Ms. Cohn, and with MCW leadership. Ultimately, on May 7, 2014, Defendant Warltier (one of the alleged anesthesiologist co-conspirators) sent a letter to MCW leadership with an attached chart showing the medical records of a number of patients on which Dr. Love had performed surgery in 2014, the dates and types of the procedures, and whether the patient died. Id. at 193. According to the TAC, the purpose of the letter and the attached chart was to level charges of incompetence against Dr. Love and force him out. Id. Dr. Love was placed on a leave of absence the next day. Id. at 196.

The conspiracy allegations reshape this lawsuit in two ways. First, they form the basis of two newly-pleaded claims for relief: Count X of the TAC is a common-law civil conspiracy claim, and Count XI is a civil conspiracy claim under Wis. Stat. § 134.01. Second, the conspiracy allegations are the basis for an argument that the Separation Agreement executed by Dr. Love in August, 2014 is void. I previously dismissed several claims as barred by the terms of the Separation Agreement, which includes a release of claims based on conduct prior to August 26, 2014. (ECF No. 51). Love now argues that he was fraudulently induced to sign the Separation *735Agreement because MCW's in-house counsel, Sarah Cohn, knew of the conspiracy at the time that she negotiated the Separation Agreement with Dr. Love, but did not disclose that knowledge. Specifically, Dr. Love alleges that:

238. When Dr. Love signed the Separation Agreement, he reasonably relied on MCW to disclose all information material to his separation from MCW, and he justifiably trusted that MCW would disclose to him all such information.
239. When Dr. Love signed the Separation Agreement on August 26, 2014, he was not aware the Ms. Cohn, acting in concert with Dr. Nicolosi and the Anesthesiologist Co-Conspirators, had perpetrated their covert, months-long conspiracy, involving numerous violations of 42 U.S.C § 1320d-6, to injure Dr. Love in his reputation and profession; nor had any person or entity disclosed the existence of this conspiracy to Dr. Love.
240. Had Dr. Love been aware of the conspiracy, he would not have signed the separation agreement.
241. The Separation Agreement is void in its entirety because Ms. Cohn, MCW's agent, induced Dr. Love to sign the Separation Agreement by fraudulently concealing from him that she, Dr. Nicolosi, and the Anesthesiologist Co-Conspirators had conspired to injure Dr. Love in his reputation and profession.

(ECF No. 194). On this basis, Love again seeks to allege claims based on conduct prior to August 26, 2014.

b. Motion to Dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6)

Defendants have moved to dismiss several of Dr. Love's newly-pleaded claims under Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
350 F. Supp. 3d 730, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/love-v-med-coll-of-wis-wied-2018.