Griesi v. Atlantic General Hospital Co

Griesi v. Atlantic General Hospital Co.,
No. 128, Sept. Term, 1999 (Md. July 25, 2000)

A hospital CEO made a verbal offer of employment to a physical therapist and followed
it up with a written offer. Relying on these representations, the physical therapist
turned down other employment opportunities. Subsequently, the physical therapist
was invited to a “fact-finding” meeting, during which he was advised
by the Director of Operations that the CEO did not have authority to make hiring
decisions. Several weeks later, the hospital informed the physical therapist
that it had decided not to hire him. The physical therapist sued, claiming that
the hospital had made negligent misrepresentations which he relied upon to his
detriment. The hospital countered by arguing that, if the court permitted the
claim to go forward, the result would be an “assault of massive litigation.”
Unalarmed and unpersuaded, the court allowed the claim to stand.