Mihalakis v. Cabrini Medical Center (CMC)

Decision Date20 June 1989
Citation151 A.D.2d 345,542 N.Y.S.2d 988
PartiesGeorgia MIHALAKIS, D.O., Plaintiff-Appellant-Respondent, v. CABRINI MEDICAL CENTER (CMC), et al., Defendants-Respondents-Appellants.
CourtNew York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

Georgia Mihalakis, D.O., pro se.

B.E. Jacques, for defendants-respondents-appellants.

Before SULLIVAN, J.P., and ASCH, ROSENBERGER, WALLACH and RUBIN, JJ.

MEMORANDUM DECISION.

Order of the Supreme Court, New York County (Diane A. Lebedeff, J.), entered June 16, 1988, resettled by order entered September 15, 1988, which dismissed part of the third, the fourth, part of the sixth, and the seventh causes of action, unanimously modified, on the law, to dismiss the entire complaint except the second cause of action for breach of contract as against defendant Cabrini Medical Center only, and the sixth cause of action for defamation as against defendants Cabrini Medical Center and Angelo Taranta only, and is otherwise affirmed, without costs.

The action is for money damages and arises out of defendant Cabrini Medical Center's termination of a contract in which it agreed, among other things, to provide plaintiff with an educational program meeting the standards of the American Medical Association's "Essentials of Accredited Residencies", and to follow certain grievance procedures in the event the contract was terminated prior to its one-year expiration date. Completion of such an "internship" program is a prerequisite to obtaining a license to practice medicine in New Jersey, which was denied plaintiff when Cabrini advised the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners, in response to their inquiry, that it had terminated plaintiff's internship for "obstructiveness, incooperativeness, and insubordination, neglect of duty such as that of being unavailable to patients, argumentative and ineffective relations with her co-interns and supervisors, such as senior residents and chief residents, inattentive care and poor clinical judgment." Plaintiff sued Cabrini and various individuals associated with it, setting forth seven separately stated causes of action, to wit, fraud, breach of contract, tortious interference with contract, tortious interference with prospective advantage, "aggravated negligence", defamation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. On each cause of action damages in the amount of $345,324,000 were sought, apparently representing plaintiff's lifetime prospective earnings as a physician. The causes of action for fraud, breach of contract, tortious interference with contract, "aggravated negligence", and defamation were held viable upon a pre-answer motion by defendants to dismiss.

The complaint alleges that defendants, in a personal interview with plaintiff, misrepresented various aspects of Cabrini's internship program, making it out to be better than it actually was, and that had plaintiff known the truth about the program, she would have rejected Cabrini and selected another hospital at which to do her internship. As soon as plaintiff began her internship, these inadequacies became apparent to her, and she vociferously registered complaints and undertook other activities to make Cabrini live up to its professional and ethical obligations, both medical and educational. These activities, especially her efforts to organize the interns and residents at Cabrini into a union, caused defendants to fear plaintiff and "they wanted to destroy her". Thus, they set about to terminate her internship, a purpose they accomplished by making false statements concerning her performance as a physician, and through other malicious means, including "repeated attempts to compel her to engage in unethical medical practices and break the medical oath she swore to, against her deep beliefs and...

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16 cases
  • Harris v. Dutchess Cnty. Bd. of Coop. Educ. Servs.
    • United States
    • New York Supreme Court
    • November 4, 2015
    ...by which any theoretical damages ever could be calculated." Id. at 250, 943 N.Y.S.2d 834 ; see also Mihalakis v. Cabrini Med. Ctr. (CMC), 151 A.D.2d 345, 346, 542 N.Y.S.2d 988 [1st Dept.1989] (rejecting the plaintiff's fraud claim based on the hospital's alleged misrepresentations about its......
  • Gomez–Jimenez v. New York Law Sch.
    • United States
    • New York Supreme Court
    • March 21, 2012
    ...can be inferred as a direct result of the alleged wrong. NYLS claims the instant case is analogous to Mihalakis v. Cabrini Med. Ctr., 151 A.D.2d 345, 346, 542 N.Y.S.2d 988 (1st Dept 1989) lv. dismissed 75 N.Y.2d 790, 552 N.Y.S.2d 98, 551 N.E.2d 591 (1990), where a medical student alleged th......
  • The Starr Found. v. Am. Int'l Group Inc.
    • United States
    • New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division
    • May 27, 2010
    ...the rule is “the difference between the value of what was given up and what was received in exchange” ( Mihalakis v. Cabrini Med. Ctr. (CMC), 151 A.D.2d 345, 346, 542 N.Y.S.2d 988 [1989], lv. dismissed in part, denied in part 75 N.Y.2d 790, 552 N.Y.S.2d 98, 551 N.E.2d 591 [1990], citing Ren......
  • Sudul v. Computer Outsourcing Services, 94 Civ. 1518 (JSM).
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York
    • November 9, 1994
    ...various speculative injuries to his career prospects and peace of mind, see Am.Compl. ¶¶ 28, 30-31; Mihalakis v. Cabrini Medical Ctr., 151 A.D.2d 345, 542 N.Y.S.2d 988, 989 (1989), appeal dismissed in part, denied in part, motion dismissed, 75 N.Y.2d 790, 552 N.Y.S.2d 98, 551 N.E.2d 591 (19......
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