Khass v. N.Y. Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hosp.
| Citation | 213 A.D.3d 824,184 N.Y.S.3d 102 |
| Docket Number | 2020-02659, 2020-04879 |
| Decision Date | 15 February 2023 |
| Parties | Walid KHASS, etc., respondent, v. NEW YORK PRESBYTERIAN BROOKLYN METHODIST HOSPITAL, appellant, et al., defendants. |
| Court | New York Supreme Court Appellate Division |
213 A.D.3d 824
184 N.Y.S.3d 102
Walid KHASS, etc., respondent,
v.
NEW YORK PRESBYTERIAN BROOKLYN METHODIST HOSPITAL, appellant, et al., defendants.
2020-02659, 2020-04879
Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department, New York.
Argued—September 9, 2022
February 15, 2023
Nixon Peabody LLP, Jericho, NY (Christopher J. Porzio, Erik A. Goergen, and Daniel C. Gibbons of counsel), for appellant.
Victor M. Brown, New York, NY, for respondent.
VALERIE BRATHWAITE NELSON, J.P., CHERYL E. CHAMBERS, PAUL WOOTEN, WILLIAM G. FORD, JJ.
DECISION & ORDER
In an action, inter alia, for specific performance of an employment agreement and to recover damages for breach of contract, the defendant New York Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital appeals from (1) an order of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Kathy J. King, J.), dated February 13, 2020, and (2) an order and judgment (one paper) of the same court dated June 23, 2020. The order, insofar as appealed from, in effect, granted that branch of the plaintiff's motion which was for a preliminary injunction against the defendant New York Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital to the extent of converting that branch of the motion and the action into a proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78, inter alia, in the nature of mandamus to compel the defendant New York Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital to admit the plaintiff into its pediatric residency program, and, thereupon, granted that branch of the petition which was to compel the defendant New York Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital to admit the plaintiff into its pediatric residency program. The order and judgment granted the same relief and directed the defendant New York Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital to admit the plaintiff into its pediatric residency program.
ORDERED that the appeal from the order is dismissed; and it is further,
ORDERED that the order and judgment is reversed, on the law, that branch of the plaintiff's motion which was for a preliminary injunction against the defendant New York Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital is denied, and the order is modified accordingly; and it is further,
ORDERED that one bill of costs is awarded to the defendant New York Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital.
Prior to graduating from the defendant Saint George's University School of Medicine (hereinafter the university), the plaintiff applied to and was accepted into the pediatric residency program at the defendant New York Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital (hereinafter the hospital). The plaintiff applied to this program through the National Resident Matching Program (hereinafter the NRMP), a nationwide program that matches applicants
to medical residency programs.
In accordance with a match participation agreement, applicants and medical residency programs agree to be bound to the NRMP match, and only the NRMP may waive the match commitment.
In April 2019, the hospital requested a waiver of the match commitment to the plaintiff from the NRMP on the basis that, following the hospital's ranking of the plaintiff and the subsequent match with him, it learned that he had made social media posts that were, among other things, anti-Semitic, and that he had been subject to disciplinary action and placed on a leave of absence or suspended from the university for a period of three months. The NRMP denied the waiver request. The hospital requested reconsideration of the NRMP's determination, and the NRMP upheld its determination to deny the waiver request. Despite not receiving a waiver from the NRMP, the hospital refused to admit the plaintiff into its pediatric residency program.
Thereafter, the plaintiff commenced this action against, among others, the hospital and the university, inter alia, for specific performance of the match participation agreement and to recover damages for breach of contract. Before issue was joined, the plaintiff moved for a preliminary injunction, seeking certain injunctive relief against the university and to enjoin the hospital from denying him admission into its pediatric residency program. The hospital and the university separately opposed the motion. The hospital argued, inter alia, that the Supreme Court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the causes of action asserted against the hospital because the plaintiff failed to exhaust his administrative remedies under Public Health Law article 28. The hospital did not cross-move for relief on this ground. In an order dated February 13, 2020, the court rejected the hospital's argument and determined that a preliminary injunction was an inappropriate remedy since a preliminary injunction is designed to safeguard rights asserted by a plaintiff in an ongoing action, not to determine the ultimate rights of the parties. Nonetheless, the court, in effect, granted that branch of the plaintiff's motion which was for a preliminary injunction against the hospital to the extent of converting that branch of the motion and the action into a proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78, inter alia, in the nature of mandamus to compel the hospital to admit the plaintiff into its pediatric residency program, granted that branch of the petition, and denied the relief sought against the university. In an order and judgment dated June 23, 2020, the court granted the same relief and directed the hospital to admit
the plaintiff into its pediatric residency program. The hospital appeals from the order and the order and judgment.
The appeal from the order must be dismissed because the right of direct appeal therefrom terminated with the entry of the order and judgment in the action (...
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