Plaintiff's Tortious Interference Claim Must Fail When He Presented No Evidence That A Hospital's Decision Not To Grant Him Privileges Was Influenced By The Statements Of The Defendants
BOTVINIK v. RUSH UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER (July 24, 2009)
In his last year of a residency at Rush University Medical Center, Bradley Botvinik was accused of playing a prank on a female physician by sending her unwanted, sexually explicit items. Botvinik denied the charges and was never disciplined as a result. Botvinik entered into an employment agreement with a physicians’ association in Florida. The hospital at which the physicians practiced granted Botvinik temporary privileges and began processing his application for permanent privileges. Before he moved to Florida, Botvinik learned from his new employer and the hospital that the hospital had received negative evaluations of Botvinik's work and suspended his temporary privileges. Botvinik withdrew his application for privileges once he realized it was going to be denied. He filed this action against Rush and five Rush physicians. He alleged that the defendants tortiously interfered with his expectation of employment by telling the hospital about his involvement in the sex scandal. The district court granted summary judgment to the defendants. Botvinik appeals.
In their opinion, Judges Bauer, Sykes and Tinder affirmed. The Court stated that one of the elements of tortious interference in Illinois is a purposeful interference by the defendant. The Court agreed with the lower court that Botvinik failed to present evidence on this element. Four of the five defendant physicians swore that they provided no evaluation of any kind to the Florida hospital. Although one physician did speak with the hospital about Botvinik, the record is silent with respect to whether the hospital relied on anything he said in making its decision.
