Gianetti v. Norwalk Hosp.

• Decision Date: 15 May 2012
• Docket Number: 18550.,Nos. 18549,s. 18549
• Citation: 304 Conn. 754,43 A.3d 567
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court
• Parties: Charles D. GIANETTI v. NORWALK HOSPITAL et al.

304 Conn. 754

43 A.3d 567

Charles D. GIANETTI

v.NORWALK HOSPITAL et al.

Nos. 18549, 18550.

Supreme Court of Connecticut.

Argued Nov. 29, 2011.

Decided May 15, 2012.

Robert A. Lacobelle, for the appellant in Docket No. SC 18549 and the appellee in Docket No. SC 18550 (named defendant).

Alan Neigher, with whom was Sheryle S. Levine, Westport, for the appellee in Docket No. SC 18549 and the appellant in Docket No. SC 18550 (plaintiff).

NORCOTT, PALMER, ZARELLA, McLACHLAN, EVELEIGH, HARPER and VERTEFEUILLE, Js.

ZARELLA, J.

In this breach of contract action, which comes before the court for the third time in twenty-four years,¹ the named defendant, Norwalk Hospital,² appeals, and the plaintiff, Charles D. Gianetti, a retired plastic surgeon, appeals, from the judgment of the trial court rendered in favor of the plaintiff following a hearing in damages.³ On appeal, the hospital claims that the trial court improperly (1) found that the plaintiff was a lost volume seller under the circumstances of this case, (2) concluded that there was sufficient evidence in the record to support a finding that the plaintiff proved damages with reasonable certainty for the years 1984 through 1988, and (3) precluded evidence relevant to the determination of damages regarding the parties' reasonable expectations as to the length of their contractual relationship. In his appeal, the plaintiff claims that the trial court improperly (1) calculated the damage award,⁴ (2) declined to award prejudgment and post-judgmentinterest, and (3) declined to award attorney's fees.⁵ We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The following relevant facts and procedural history are set forth in Gianetti v. Norwalk Hospital, 266 Conn. 544, 833 A.2d 891 (2003)( Gianetti II ). “The plaintiff is a physician who specializes in the field of plastic and reconstructive surgery. In 1974, the plaintiff was granted provisional clinical privileges as a member of the hospital's medical staff. In 1976, the plaintiff was granted full clinical privileges as an assistant attending staff physician. The plaintiff's privileges were renewed on an annual basis through 1983. During this time period, the plaintiff also had clinical privileges at [several] other area hospitals [Bridgeport hospitals].

“In 1983, the last year for which the plaintiff was granted privileges, there were four plastic surgeons, including the plaintiff, who worked in conjunction with the hospital's emergency department. Neither the plaintiff nor the other plastic surgeons were required to remain physically at the hospital while ‘on call.’ Rather, they were summoned to the hospital as their services were needed. Three of the plastic surgeons who covered call at the hospital also simultaneously covered call at other area hospitals. Each plastic surgeon was responsiblefor billing his patient or the patient's medical insurance carrier for any services performed.

“In 1983, the plaintiff applied for the renewal of privileges for 1984. On the basis of the recommendations of the hospital's department of surgery, section of plastic and reconstructive surgery and credentials committee, the medical staff of the hospital declined to renew the plaintiff's privileges for 1984. The hospital's board of trustees subsequently ratified the decision of the medical staff.

“In 1984, a year in which the plaintiff derived no income from services performedat the hospital owing to the nonrenewal of his privileges, the plaintiff's gross income was $225,815. In 1983, the plaintiff earned $43,687 in gross income from services performed at the hospital and $172,890 in gross income from all other services performed, including services performed at [the Bridgeport] hospitals, for a total gross income of $216,577.

“In response to the nonrenewal of privileges, the plaintiff brought the present action against the hospital [in January, 1984], seeking, inter alia, damages and injunctive relief. The case thereafter was referred to an attorney trial referee, who concluded in his report [dated May 7, 1987] that an enforceable contract existed between the hospital and the plaintiff and, furthermore, that the hospital, through its employees and agents, had breached that contract by failing to follow the procedural requirements of its bylaws in declining to renew the plaintiff's privileges.

“The trial court subsequently accepted the referee's report ⁶ [on June 18, 1993] and rendered [an interlocutory]judgment in favor of the plaintiff on the issue of liability. The trial court then conducted a hearing to determine the appropriate remedy, after which the court declined to grant the plaintiff injunctive relief [in a decision dated September 9, 1999] because he did not prove that he had suffered irreparable harm or that he was without an adequate remedy at law. In addition, the court awarded the plaintiff $1 as nominal damages, reasoning that the evidence adduced by the plaintiff did not provide a basis for finding any economic loss or damages arising out of the hospital's breach of contract. The court based its award of nominal damages on its determination that the plaintiff was not a lost volume seller inasmuch as he [had] provided personal services to the hospital and that, consequently, the doctrine of mitigation of damages applied. Thus, the court rendered judgment awarding the plaintiff nominal damages only.

“The plaintiff thereafter appealed to the Appellate Court. The Appellate Court affirmed the trial court's denial of injunctive relief but reversed that part of the judgment awarding nominal damages. Gianetti v. Norwalk Hospital, 64 Conn.App. 218, 233, 779 A.2d 847 (2001). The Appellate Court concluded that the lost volume seller theory can apply to personal service contracts such as the one between the plaintiff and the hospital; see id., at 226, 230, 779 A.2d 847; and that, in light of the evidence contained in the record, the trial court should have deemed the plaintiff a lost volume seller and should have awarded him damages equal to his lost profits in 1984 only. Id., at 231, 779 A.2d 847. Thus, the Appellate Court remanded the case to the trial court for a new hearing in damages with guidance on the appropriate method of calculating damages. See id., at 233, 779 A.2d 847.

“We thereafter granted the hospital's petition for certification to appeal limited to two issues. First, ‘[d]id the Appellate Court properly conclude that the plaintiff was a lost volume seller?’ ... Gianetti v. Norwalk Hospital, 258 Conn. 945, 788 A.2d 95 (2001). Second, ‘[d]id the Appellate Court properly conclude that the plaintiff was not required to mitigate damages ... and that he was entitled to more than nominal damages?’ Id., at 946 . We also granted the plaintiff's petition for certification to appeal limited to the following issue: ‘Did the Appellate Court properly conclude that, on the remand, the plaintiff was entitled to prove damages for only one year?’ Gianetti v. Norwalk Hospital, 258 Conn. 946, 788 A.2d 95 (2001).” Gianetti v. Norwalk Hospital, supra, 266 Conn. at 547–51, 833 A.2d 891.

On appeal, we determined that the Appellate Court properly had concluded as a matter of law that the lost volume seller theory applies to personal services contracts but that the Appellate Court's conclusion regarding the plaintiff's status as a lost volume seller under the circumstances of this case had been incorrect. See id., at 571, 833 A.2d 891. We noted that the issue of whether a party qualifies as a lost volume seller is one of fact. Id., at 560, 833 A.2d 891. We also observed that it is not ordinarily the function of a reviewing court to make factual findings and that conclusions of fact may be drawn on appeal “only where the subordinate facts found [by the trial court] make such a conclusion inevitable as a matter of law ... or where the undisputed facts or uncontroverted evidence and testimony in the record make the factual conclusion so obvious as to be inherent in the trial court's decision.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Id. Under this high standard, “[t]he evidence in the record was inadequate for the purpose of determining whether the plaintiff had possessed the capacity and intent to perform under the contract with the hospital while simultaneously assuming an increased workload at the [Bridgeport] hospitals. Accordingly, any conclusions derived from those facts that are relevant to the first and third prongs of the lost volume seller test were improper.” Id., at 571, 833 A.2d 891. We also concluded that the record supported the Appellate Court's determination that “it would have been profitable for the plaintiff to perform under the contract with the hospital while also assuming an increased workload at the [Bridgeport] hospitals”; id., at 563–64 n. 10, 833 A.2d 891; but that “the Appellate Court improperly [had] determined that the plaintiff was entitled to damages for lost profits in 1984 only. The proper remedy under these circumstances [was] to remand the case for a new hearing to afford the trial court an opportunity to determine damages with due consideration of the lost volume seller theory and to make factual findings to that end, after which a reviewing court properly [could] determine whether the trial court's factual findings and its conclusions concerning the amount of damages to which the plaintiff is entitled [were] supported by the record.” Id., at 571, 833 A.2d 891. We thus affirmed the judgment of the Appellate Court insofar as it upheld the trial court's denial of injunctive relief but otherwise reversed the judgment and remanded the case for further proceedings. Id.

On remand, the trial court conducted a hearing in damages and, in a memorandum of decision dated April 15, 2009, found that the plaintiff was a lost volume seller under the circumstances of the case. The court also found that, because the plaintiff was a lost volume seller, he was not required to mitigate his damages. The court then...