Medical Wellness Associates P.C. v. Heithaus

51 Pa. D. & C.4th 1, 2001 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 273
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Westmoreland County
DecidedFebruary 13, 2001
Docketno. 6500 of 2000
StatusPublished

This text of 51 Pa. D. & C.4th 1 (Medical Wellness Associates P.C. v. Heithaus) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Westmoreland County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Medical Wellness Associates P.C. v. Heithaus, 51 Pa. D. & C.4th 1, 2001 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 273 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2001).

Opinion

CARUSO, J.,

This matter is before the court for adjudication as the result of a complaint in equity filed on October 17, 2000, containing six counts. On October 20, 2000, the plaintiff filed a motion for preliminary or special injunction. The court scheduled a hearing on said motion for November 3, 2000. At the request of Eugene G. Berry, Esq., counsel for the defendant, the hearing of November 3, 2000, was continued by order of court dated November 1, 2000, to the date of November 28, 2000. The order of court of November 1, 2000, also directed that upon agreement of counsel the hearing to be held on November 28, 2000, would be for a final adjudication of a permanent injunction. The hearing scheduled for November 28, 2000, was once again continued but this time at the request of counsel for the plaintiff. The hearing was continued to January 4, 2001. On December 12, 2000, the defendant filed an answer, new matter, and counterclaim. Thereafter, hearings were held on January 4, 2001; January 19, 2001; and January 30, 2001. After the taking of said testimony, the court enters the following adjudication.

[4]*4ISSUES

(1) Is the restrictive covenant contained in the employment agreement dated October 23, 1994, as amended by the amendments thereto of July 22, 1996, and October 22, 1996, supported by adequate consideration?

(2) Is the restrictive covenant not to compete reasonable in terms of time and geographical restriction?

(3) Is the plaintiff/employer entitled to injunctive relief and/or damages for breach of the restrictive covenant?

(4) Did the defendant misappropriate “confidential information” in violation of paragraph 19(d) of the said employment agreement as amended?

(5) Is the plaintiff/employer entitled to injunctive relief as a result of said violation?

(6) Did the defendant breach the said employment agreement as amended, specifically the provisions set forth in paragraphs 19(b) and 19(d)?

(7) Is the plaintiff/employer entitled to liquidated damages in the amount of $25,000, together with attorney’s fees and costs of suit pursuant to paragraph 19(f) of said agreement as amended?

(8) Is the plaintiff/employer entitled to unliquidated damages and/or punitive damages?

(9) Did the defendant intentionally interfere with the doctor-patient contract and relationships?

(10) Is the plaintiff/employer entitled to damages for intentional interference with the doctor-patients contracts and relationships?

[5]*5(11) Did the plaintiff/employer engage in fraud?

(12) Does the plaintiff/employer have “unclean hands” so as to bar plaintiff’s entitlement to equitable remedies?

(13) Did the plaintiff/employer unlawfully and unjustly terminate the defendant for his religious beliefs in direct contravention of his civil rights under the state and federal constitutions?

(14) Did plaintiff/employer wrongfully and unjustly terminate the defendant without just cause in violation and in breach of the said employment agreement as amended?

(15) Did the plaintiff/employer methodically work to reduce the defendant’s patient load causing his productivity to decline and thus constructively discharge the defendant?

(16) Did the plaintiff/employer breach a covenant of good faith and fair dealing implied in said employment agreement, as amended, by engaging in a continuing pattern of harassment of the defendant and by failing to pay for reports generated by the defendant?

(17) Is the defendant entitled to money damages on his counterclaim?

FINDINGS OF FACT

(1) The plaintiff is Medical Wellness Associates P.C., a Pennsylvania corporation, with offices located at 91 Lincoln Way East, Jeannette, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.

[6]*6(2) Chiropractic Nutritional Associates P.C., was the corporate predecessor to MWA. On or about July 23, 1996, CNA merged with and into MWA.

(3) The defendant is Richard J. Heithaus D.C., and has established an office at 533 Washington Avenue, Suite 204, Bridgeville, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.

(4) The defendant has executed a series of employment agreements with CNA and MWA. The first was executed on October 23, 1991, and had a term of one year. The second was entered into on October 23,1992, and had a term of two years. The third employment agreement was entered into on October 23, 1994, and had a term of two years.

(5) The defendant executed an addendum to the 1994 employment contract under which addendum the defendant’s rights, duties, and obligations were assigned to MWA, the surviving entity of the CNA-MWA merger. This addendum was effective July 22, 1996.

(6) The defendant executed an amendment to the 1994 employment contract with MWA which was effective October 22, 1996. In this amendment, MWA increased the term of the contract, the compensation to be paid to the defendant, the amount of the health insurance premium to be paid by the employer and the amount of vacation to which the defendant was entitled each year.

(7) The defendant executed the employment agreement dated October 23, 1991, on the same date he began employment with CNA which is MWA’s corporate predecessor. This first agreement terminated on Octo[7]*7ber 23,1992. The defendant entered into a new and second employment agreement with CNA on October 23, 1992. This second employment agreement terminated on October 23, 1994.

On October 23, 1994, the defendant entered into a new and subsequent employment agreement with CNA. This agreement was to have a term of two years. Thereafter on July 22,1996, the defendant executed an amendment to the employment agreement wherein the defendant acknowledged that the rights and responsibilities under the agreement were to be assigned by CNA to MWA effective July 22, 1996. This amendment provided that all other terms and conditions in the agreement remain the same and unaffected by the amendment. Thereafter on October 22, 1996, one day prior to the expiration of the term of the employment agreement dated October 23, 1994, the defendant executed an amendment to the employment agreement wherein, in pertinent part, the term of the employment agreement of October 23,1994, was extended for a period through and including October 22, 2001. In addition, the compensation of the defendant was increased, as well as the period of vacation to which the defendant was entitled to each contract year. Also, the employer agreed to pay an additional $800 towards the defendant’s hospitalization insurance. All other terms and conditions in the agreement of October 23, 1994, were to remain the same and unaffected by this amendment.

(8) Paragraphs 19(b)(1) and (3) of the employment agreement, as amended, prohibited defendant from practicing chiropractic within a 45-mile radius of MWA’s [8]*8office for two years following the termination of his employment with MWA. MWA terminated the defendant’s employment for cause on May 27, 2000.

(9) The defendant opened a practice in the month of July in the year 2000 at 533 Washington Avenue, Suite 204, Bridgeville, Pennsylvania.

(10) The straight-line distance between MWA’s offices in Jeannette and the defendant’s location in Bridgeville is 26.775 miles as established by Richard F. Territ, a registered professional land surveyor.

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Bluebook (online)
51 Pa. D. & C.4th 1, 2001 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 273, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/medical-wellness-associates-pc-v-heithaus-pactcomplwestmo-2001.