Gastroenterology Consultants v. Meiselman (Summary)

RESTRICTIVE COVENANT

Gastroenterology Consultants v. Meiselman, No. 1-12-3692 (Ill. App. Ct. Apr. 15, 2013)

The Appellate Court of Illinois affirmed a lower court’s denial of a physician group’s motion for a preliminary injunction that would have prevented a former physician of the group from soliciting patients and from treating patients except in medical emergencies.

The physician had a contract with the physician group that prohibited him from soliciting or treating patients of the group within a 15-mile radius of the group’s office for a period of 36 months following the termination of employment.  However, a few months after the termination of his employment, the physician was treating any patient who requested his services, including patients he had treated while working for the physician group.

The appellate court affirmed the lower court’s decision, finding that the lower court considered all of the possibilities in determining whether the physician group had a legitimate business interest in need of protection.  The appellate court found that the group did not have a near-permanent relationship with the patients treated by the physician, that the physician had practiced in the area for ten years before joining the group and preserved the independent relationship he had already established, that referrals were made individually, not to the group itself, that the physician billed for his own services, and that he maintained his own office and telephone number.  Thus, the appellate court confirmed that the group did not have a legitimate business interest in the patients solicited by the physician.