 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
GUPTA v. NEW BRITAIN GENERAL HOSPITAL12/31/1996
facility" and that the educational aspects of the residency program do "not change the hospital into a school, college,
or university." Assuming the validity of this distinction, he argues that he could not have been a "student" at the hospital. We decline to accept the proposition that hospitals can never be educational facilities. In conducting the residency program in this case, the hospital assumed educational responsibilities related to, but distinct from, its function as an institution for healing the sick. The plaintiff concedes as much in his pleadings. The fact that the hospital may be independent of a university system or may otherwise provide health services to the general public does not alter this conclusion. See, e.g., Training Physicians: The Case of Internal Medicine (C. Kohrman et al. eds., 1994) p. 284 (conducting study of residency programs in hospitals not affiliated with a medical school).
For all the reasons stated above, we hold that, in the circumstances of this case, the plaintiff's dismissal implicated the educational component of the residency agreement and was, therefore, an academic decision. In light of this conclusion, we must consider the merits of the plaintiff's other challenges to the validity of his dismissal.
II
Even if his dismissal was properly grounded in academic reasons, the plaintiff maintains that, for three other reasons, the hospital's decision did not comport with its contractual obligations to him. In his view, the hospital: (1) failed to provide him with appropriate training; (2) discharged him arbitrarily, capriciously, or in bad faith; and (3) violated its obligation of good faith and fair dealing. Like the trial court, we are persuaded by none of these contentions.
A
The plaintiff claims that the hospital, in breach of the residency agreement, failed to provide him a residency program that "would reasonably and adequately train him" and that was "in accordance with the standards established for teaching hospitals." The trial court recognized that this claim, as a matter of law, was consistent with the court's determination that the residency agreement manifested an educational undertaking, but concluded that, as a matter of fact, the plaintiff had not submitted evidence of disputed material facts sufficient to rebut the hospital's motion for summary judgment. We agree.
The plaintiff's claim that the hospital failed to provide him adequate training must be put into context. "Where the essence of the complaint is that [an educational institution] breached its agreement by failing to provide an effective education, the court is . . . asked to evaluate the course of instruction called upon to review the soundness of the method of teaching that has been adopted by [that] educational institution." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Ross v. Creighton University, 957 F.2d 410, 416 (7th Cir. 1992). This is a project that the judiciary is ill equipped to undertake. See id.; Donohue v. Copiague Union Free School District, 47 N.Y.2d 440, 445, 391 N.E.2d 1352, 418 N.Y.S.2d 375 (1979); Cavaliere v. Duff's Business Institute, 413 Pa. Super. 357, 370, 605 A.2d 397 (1992).
In reality, a claim such as that advanced by the plaintiff "raise questions concerning the reasonableness of conduct by educational institutions in providing particular educational services to students — questions that must be answered by reference to principles of duty, standards of care, and reasonable conduct associated with the law of torts." Cencor, Inc. v. Tolman, 868 P.2d 396, 399 (Colo. 1994) (en banc). Because these tort
principles are difficult, if not
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Connecticut Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|