Hobler v. Hussain (Summary)

PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT/EMPLOYMENT

Hobler v. Hussain, 2013 N.Y. Slip Op. 07237 (N.Y. App. Div. Nov. 7, 2013)

The Supreme Court, Appellate Division of New York, affirmed a lower court’s order which granted a physician’s motion for summary judgment and dismissed an orthopedic physician assistant’s (“PA”) complaint that the physician wrongfully prevented him from seeing patients.  The PA stated that this action caused his employment to be terminated by a hospital.

The PA and the hospital had an employment agreement under which the PA’s employment was subject to termination “without cause upon sixty (60) days prior written notice.” Approximately six months after the start of his employment at the hospital, the hospital notified the PA that his employment would be terminated in 90 days.

The court found that the PA could not have reasonably relied upon any assurances that his employment would be secure, given that his employment contract expressly stated that his employment could be terminated without cause. The employment agreement further contained an integration clause which provided that the agreement represented the entire agreement and that no amendment or modification would be effective unless in writing and signed by the parties. Furthermore, the court found that the PA fell short of demonstrating the physician’s use of any wrongful means to allegedly prevent the PA from seeing patients. Moreover, the PA admitted that he was terminated based on the hospital’s financial decision, negating the physician’s involvement in his termination.