Pac. Kidney & Hypertension, LLC v. Kassakian — Jan. 2016 (Summary)

NON-COMPETE ENFORCEMENT

Pac. Kidney & Hypertension, LLC v. Kassakian
Case No. 3:16-cv-0025-SI (D. Or. Jan. 19, 2016)

The United States District Court for the District of Oregon granted in part and denied in part a motion for a temporary restraining order (“TRO”) in a lawsuit alleging that a formerly employed nephrologist was violating the non-compete from her employment agreement by accepting employment with a direct competitor within the restricted area. While the court granted the TRO in part, thereby preventing the nephrologist from soliciting patients of her former employer, it refused to grant the TRO in full – noting that the public interest was a significant factor that had to be considered in this case. The court observed that nephrologists were in great demand in the geographic area and because there were not enough nephrologists to meet current demand, the nephrologist’s former patients would have to endure months-long waits to be seen by new nephrologists. The court also noted that the nephrologist’s new employer already had a long list of patients to be seen by the nephrologist and would not be relying on the nephrologist to build a patient base (in other words, there is no reason to believe the nephrologist would be soliciting the former practice’s patients).