Salaymeh v. InterQual, Inc.

• Decision Date: 28 May 1987
• Docket Number: No. 5-86-0335,5-86-0335
• Citation: 108 Ill.Dec. 578,155 Ill.App.3d 1040,508 N.E.2d 1155
• Parties: , 108 Ill.Dec. 578 Muhammad T. SALAYMEH, M.D., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. INTERQUAL, INCORPORATED, a corporation, Charles M. Jacobs, Randolph W. Seed, M.D., Horty, Springer & Mattern, P.C., Linda Haddad, St. Vincent Memorial Hospital Corporation, the Adorers of the Blood of Christ, Edward Koerner, and George Freese, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

Page 1155

508 N.E.2d 1155

155 Ill.App.3d 1040, 108 Ill.Dec. 578

Muhammad T. SALAYMEH, M.D., Plaintiff-Appellant, v.INTERQUAL, INCORPORATED, a corporation, Charles M. JacobsRandolph W. Seed, M.D., Horty, Springer & Mattern, P.C.Linda Haddad, St. Vincent Memorial Hospital Corporation, the Adorers of the Blood of Christ, Edward Koerner, and George Freese, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 5-86-0335.

Appellate Court of Illinois Fifth District.

May 28, 1987.

Robert D. Owen, Linda M. Castleman, Robert M. Owen, of the firm of Owen Roberts, Ltd., Decatur, for plaintiff-appellant.

Charles M. Jacobs, Randolph W. Seed, M.D., St. Vincent Memorial Hosp. Corp., Belleville, for Interqual, Inc.

Thompson & Mitchell, Gary Mayes, Paul J. Puricelli, Belleville, for The Adorers of the Blood of Christ, and George Freese.

Michael J. Tague, Franklin, Flynn & Palmer, Champaign, and Bernard D. Marcus, Titus Marchus & Shapira, Pittsburgh, Pa., for Horty, Springer & Mattern and Linda Haddad.

Howard W. Feldman, Springfield, for Edward Koerner.

Justice WELCHdelivered the opinion of the court:

PlaintiffMuhammad T. Salaymeh, M.D. commenced this action in the circuit court of Christian County alleging he had been deprived of his operating privileges at St. Vincent Memorial Hospital as the result of a wrongful conspiracy among defendantsInterQual, Incorporated, Charles M. Jacobs, Randolph W. Seed, M.D., Horty, Springer & Mattern, P.C., Linda Haddad, St. Vincent Memorial Hospital Corporation, the Adorers of the Blood of Christ, Edward Koerner, and George Freese.The circuit court dismissed the first, second and fifth counts of plaintiff's five-count complaint with prejudice, whereupon plaintiff moved for voluntary dismissal of the third and fourth counts.The circuit court granted the latter motion, and plaintiff brought the instant appeal.

Plaintiff's ultimate complaint included the following allegations common to all counts: Jacobs and Seed are the president and clinical medical director, respectively, of InterQual.Haddad, an attorney licensed to practice law in Pennsylvania, is a member of Horty, Springer & Mattern, P.C., a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania law firm, none of whose members are licensed to practice law in Illinois.St. Vincent Hospital Corporation operates St. Vincent Memorial Hospital ("the hospital") in Taylorville, Illinois.The Adorers of the Blood of Christ is a religious corporation which owns the hospital.Koerner and Freese are chief executive officer and chairman of the board of trustees, respectively, of the hospital.Plaintiff is licensed to practice medicine in Illinois and practices in the specialty of general surgery and in the sub-specialty of thoracic surgery.Plaintiff had staff privileges and operating room privileges at the hospital pursuant to a contract between himself and the hospital corporation until his operating room privileges were terminated on August 29, 1984.

In the first count of his complaint, plaintiff alleged all of the defendants engaged in a "Conspiracy to Induce an Interference with Contractual Relations" existing between plaintiff and the hospital regarding plaintiff's operating room privileges.Plaintiff alleged the roles of the various defendants in the conspiracy were as follows: Koerner coordinated the activities of the defendants to accomplish the aims of the conspiracy; the Adorers of the Blood of Christ selected a majority of the board of trustees of the hospital "so that the actions planned could be carried into effect without effective resistance by the Board" and selected Freese as chairman of the board "to facilitate the carrying out of the conspiratorial plan"; Freese used his position to assist Koerner in the conspiracy to interfere with plaintiff's contractual rights by giving Koerner power and authority beyond that which his position with the hospital provided; InterQual, Jacobs and Seed conducted an investigation of plaintiff's and another physician's medical practices and procedures which was in fact intended to deprive plaintiff of his privileges as a staff physician "by threats and duress"; Haddad and Horty, Springer & Mattern, P.C. either (1) were engaged in the unauthorized practice of law in Illinois, or (2) gave tactical counsel and guidance to the other defendants in furtherance of the conspiracy.In the first count plaintiff alleged Koerner was not acting in the interest of the hospital but instead instigated the conspiracy "to further his own personal prejudices and bias against medical doctors of foreign birth and non-Christian religious preference, in furtherance of which he was joined by defendant Freese."The first count alleged the following sequence of events: (1) In April of 1984, at Koerner's suggestion, the hospital Tissue Committee transmitted tissue samples from two surgery cases to InterQual.(2) InterQual, Jacobs and Seed were assigned this evaluation procedure with the understanding that the true aim of the evaluation was to deprive plaintiff of his medical practice at the hospital.(3) Later the evaluation was expanded to include about 100 operative procedures which occurred in one year.(4) After reviewing those cases, InterQual advised its fellow conspirators the review was not turning up sufficient material to support the kind of report required to accomplish the aims of the conspiracy, whereupon, at the request of InterQual "and/or" Haddad, Koerner enhanced the previously submitted records with several selected cases covering a period of four years; InterQual made certain damaging conclusions as its contribution to the conspiracy.(5)Defendants misled the hospital staff into requesting the review and evaluation with the expectation that any resulting reports would be given to the staff for evaluation purposes.(6) InterQual's report was not transmitted to the staff, but instead was transmitted to Freese and Haddad.(7) On August 27, 1984, Koerner demanded plaintiff resign his operating room privileges and warned plaintiff that if plaintiff insisted on a hearing under the hospital bylaws the result was already determined against him.(8) On August 29, plaintiff received a letter in which Koerner demanded plaintiff either voluntarily resign his operating room privileges by 4 p.m., in which case the InterQual report would be kept confidential, or face summary suspension.Plaintiff alleged defendants' conduct was willful and wanton "so as to deprive defendants of any protection from civil liability" afforded by section 2b of the Medical Practice Act(Ill.Rev.Stat.1985, ch. 111, par. 4406).

The second and fifth counts of plaintiff's ultimate complaint alleged defendants' "Intentional Interference with Contractual Relations" between plaintiff and the hospital.The second count was based on the same facts alleged in the first count.In the fifth count plaintiff alleged Haddad and Horty, Springer & Mattern, P.C. knew of the hospital's covenant to keep the matters concerning the InterQual report and plaintiff's resignation confidential, and that Haddad intentionally caused the hospital to breach this covenant at a November 16, 1985 public meeting.

Defendants argue plaintiff's first count was properly dismissed in its entirety due to the absence of parties legally capable of entering into a conspiracy.We agree.A conspiracy is an agreement or combination of two or more people or entities to do an unlawful act or to do a lawful act by unlawful means.(ABC Trans Nat'l Transp., Inc. v. Aeronautics Forwarders, Inc.(1980), 90 Ill.App.3d 817, 829, 46 Ill.Dec. 186, 839, 413 N.E.2d 1299, 1309.)The acts of an agent are considered in law to be the acts of the principal.Thus a conspiracy does not exist between a principal and an agent or servant.(John Deere Co. v. Metzler(1964), 51 Ill.App.2d 340, 355, 201 N.E.2d 478, 486;Bonanno v. La Salle & Bureau County R.R. Co.(1980), 87 Ill.App.3d 988, 995, 42 Ill.Dec. 866, 870, 409 N.E.2d 482, 486.)From the facts alleged in plaintiff's complaint it could only be concluded that Haddad and Horty, Springer & Mattern, P.C. and Jacobs, Seed, InterQual, Koerner and Freese committed the acts complained of as agents of the hospital corporation.Further, there were no facts (as opposed to unsupported conclusions regarding defendants' motives) alleged from which to infer that the acts done by the various defendants as agents of the hospital corporation were done for any reason other than the reasons of the hospital corporation.An actionable wrong cannot be made out by characterizing acts as wrongfully done; the pleading of conclusions alone will not suffice for the factual allegations upon which a cause of action must be based.(Atwood Vacuum Mach. Co. v. Continental Casualty Co.(1969), 107 Ill.App.2d 248, 266, 246 N.E.2d 882, 891-92;seeArlington Heights Nat'l Bank v. Arlington Heights Fed. Sav. & Loan Association(1967), 37 Ill.2d 546, 552, 229 N.E.2d 514, 518(held, malice was not sufficiently pleaded by the plaintiff's alleging that the defendant acted "wrongfully, intentionally and maliciously," without pleading any facts...