Mercy Health Sys. of N.W. Ark., Inc. v. Bicak (Summary)

RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS

Mercy Health Sys. of N.W. Ark., Inc. v. Bicak, No. CA 10-1057 (Ark. Ct. App. May 11, 2011)

The Court of Appeals of Arkansas affirmed summary judgment in favor of a physician who had been sued by his former employer (a hospital) for tortious interference with business expectancy and breach of contract as a result of his decision to terminate his employment contract, take information from the hospital about its patients, and then open a competing practice that violated the terms of his restrictive covenant.

In affirming summary judgment for the physician, the court noted that the restrictive covenant was unenforceable because it did nothing besides eliminate competition. The court found that the hospital did not counter the evidence brought by the physician showing the hospital had no interest to protect through the covenant and that the covenant would unreasonably interfere with patients’ access to the physicians of their choice.

The appeals court also found no error in the trial court finding that the physician had not breached the employment agreement, noting that there was no direct evidence that the physician had compiled a patient list from the hospital’s data, nor that he actively solicited the two employees who chose to leave the hospital to go work for the physician.