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Thomas v. Medical Center Physicians12/27/2002
2002 Opinion No. 140
Summary judgment in favor of defendants reversed and remanded in part; award of costs and fees vacated.
ON REHEARING
This is an appeal from an award of summary judgment in favor of Medical Center Physicians et al. (Medical Center) against Richard V. Thomas, M.D.'s (Thomas) claim for wrongful termination.
I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
On August 30, 1993, Thomas entered into a probationary agreement with Medical Center to be employed as a physician. Subsequently, Thomas and Medical Center entered into an agreement in which Thomas became a shareholder in Medical Center and a partner in Nampa Medical Dental Properties, a partnership created by Medical Center. Prior to signing the 1994 agreement, Thomas believed that he had observed certain instances of misconduct by another doctor in this department (the Doctor) and reported to administrators within Medical Center what he considered to be breaches of the standard of care. He reported that the Doctor had bartered with patients for personal gifts in exchange for medical services, performed unnecessary treatment and testing for the purpose of boosting his income, falsified medical records, and acted unprofessionally by driving his vehicle across Medical Center's lawn.
A Medical Center executive committee considered the complaints and concluded that the allegations of breach of the standard of care by the Doctor were simply differences in medical opinions. The committee concluded, however, that the allegations of bartering had occurred, constituting dishonesty, and the continuation of such would result in the Doctor being dismissed from employment with Medical Center.
Thomas treated one of the Doctor's patients in his absence, telling the patient that he did not agree with the treatment the Doctor had prescribed, and he referred the patient to a local urologist. Thomas did not notify the Doctor upon his return of the treatment he had rendered. After learning of the treatment, the Doctor presented the information to Medical Center's quality assurance committee, which admonished Thomas for his actions in a memo dated January 28, 1998, written by Dr. Aguilar (Aguilar). The memo criticized Thomas' conduct, specifically for the entry of information in the patient's chart that was "inflammatory." Thomas responded by telling Aguilar that he was going to report the events concerning the Doctor to individuals or entities outside the Medical Center. Aguilar asked Thomas to let Medical Center handle the situation internally.
On February 17, 1998, Thomas distributed a memo addressed to Medical Center's quality assurance committee, Medical Center's chief administrator, and the chief executive officer and president of Mercy Medical Center. In the memo Thomas defended his conduct, stating that his entries were objective, he was not "in the business of trying to protect 'one of our own' from blatant, illegal actions," and he was morally obligated to report the facts accurately. He also alleged that the Doctor had erred in the treatment of a patient without first administering a pregnancy test, resulting in miscarriage of a viable fifteen-week-old fetus. Thomas concluded the memo, stating that " f these issues are left unaddressed, I guarantee a copy of this letter will also be sent to the Idaho Medical Board."
Following the February 17, 1999 memo, Aguilar informed Thomas that he and many others were very angry with Thomas for writing the memo. On February 23, 1998, less than a week after Thomas' memo was distributed, the Doctor resigned his position at Medical Center. About the same time, Thomas was interviewed by Kenneth Mallea (Mallea), lega
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