Aljaberi v. Neurocare Ctr., Inc. , 113 N.E.3d 40 ( 2018 )

[Cite as Aljaberi v. Neurocare Ctr., Inc., 2018-Ohio-1800.]
COURT OF APPEALS
STARK COUNTY, OHIO
FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT
MOHAMMED M. ALJABERI, M.D. JUDGES:
Hon. John W. Wise, P. J.
Plaintiff-Appellee Hon. W. Scott Gwin, J.
Hon. Craig R. Baldwin, J.
-vs-
Case No. 2017 CA 00176
NEUROCARE CENTER, INC., et al.
Defendants-Appellants OPINION
CHARACTER OF PROCEEDING: Civil Appeal from the Court of Common
Pleas, Caes No. 2016 CV 02671
JUDGMENT: Reversed and Remanded
DATE OF JUDGMENT ENTRY: May 7, 2018
APPEARANCES:
For Plaintiff-Appellee For Defendants-Appellants
LEE E. PLAKAS MARTIN T. GALVIN
GARY A. CORROTO JONATHAN H. KROL
MARIA C. KLUTINOTY EDWARDS REMINGER CO., LPA
TZANGAS PLAKAS MANNOS LTD 101 West Prospect Avenue, Suite 1400
220 Market Avenue South Cleveland, Ohio 44115
8th Floor
Canton, Ohio 44702 ALLEN SCHULMAN
STACIE ROTH
236 Third Street SW
Canton, Ohio 44702
Stark County, Case No. 2017 CA 00176 2
Wise, P. J.
{¶1} Appellants Neurocare Center, Inc., Ryan S. Drake, D.O., and Andrew P.
Stalker, M.D. appeal the September 18, 2017, decision of the Stark County Court of
Common Pleas ordering production of certain documents sent to the State Medical Board
of Ohio.
{¶2} Appellee is Mohammed M. Aljaberi, M.D.
STATEMENT OF THE FACTS
{¶3} In 2002, Appellee Mohammed Aljaberi, M.D. became employed as a senior
physician at Appellant Neurocare. For more than a decade, in addition to being a
physician employee, he has been a shareholder and a director of the company. As of
September 2016, Neurocare was a close corporation with eight physician shareholders.
{¶4} On September 7, 2016, Dr. Aljaberi was locked out of his computer, and
Appellees Dr. Stalker and Dr. Drake informed Dr. Aljaberi that he should take a few days
off due to an incident involving colleagues. As per Dr. Stalker and Dr. Drake's instruction,
Dr. Aljaberi took the days off as they requested.
{¶5} On or about September 12, 2016, the members of the Neurocare Board of
Directors, held a meeting wherein Neurocare's doctors voted to remove Dr. Aljaberi as a
director and to terminate his employment as a senior physician with Neurocare.
Appellants cited repeated misconduct, including physically assaulting a staff member,
insulting/offending patients, and exposing staff members, including schedulers and a
medical student, to pornography on his work computer as the basis for the termination of
Dr. Aljaberi. At his deposition, Appellee admitted to all of this misconduct. He claimed that
he deserved to be disciplined, but not terminated.
Stark County, Case No. 2017 CA 00176 3
{¶6} On December 8, 2016, Appellee filed a Complaint against Appellants
Neurocare Center, Inc., Ryan S. Drake, D.O. and Andrew P. Stalker, M.D., which included
claims for Breach of Fiduciary Duty, Breach of Contract, Civil Conspiracy, and Declaratory
Judgment.
{¶7} On December 9, 2016, Appellants filed a complaint with the State Medical
Board of Ohio concerning Dr. Aljaberi.
{¶8} On May 4, 2017, Dr. Aljaberi amended his Complaint, asserting claims of
Breach of Fiduciary Duty, Breach of Contract, Civil Conspiracy, Conversion, Declaratory
Judgment, Production of Corporate Books and Records, Production of Annual Financial
Statements, and a Request for an Accounting.
{¶9} During discovery, Appellee made the following document request relating
to reports/complaints made to the Ohio State Medical Board:
Request for Production No. 8:
Produce all document relating to any communications, notes and
memoranda sent by any employee, agent and/or representative of
Neurocare to the State Medical Board of Ohio that in any way refer or relate
to Aljaberi. Appellants objected to this request on the basis that any
responsive documents would be privileged and thus completely shielded
from discovery by operation of statute.
{¶10} After the parties were unable to resolve their disagreement over the
appropriateness of this request, the issue was raised with the trial court at an on the
record pretrial. The trial judge issued a briefing schedule that the parties complied with.
Stark County, Case No. 2017 CA 00176 4
{¶11} After briefing was completed, the trial court ordered that any responsive
documents be submitted to the court for an in camera review. Appellants complied with
this directive.
{¶12} On September 18, 2017, the trial court ordered that the documents be
produced but delayed disclosing the documents to the Appellee so that Appellants could
file an interlocutory appeal concerning the ordered production of arguably privilege
materials, if they chose to do so.
{¶13} It is from this decision Appellants now appeal, raising the following error for
review:
ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR
{¶14} “I. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED BY ORDERING PRODUCTION OF
PRIVILEGED PHYSICIAN MANDATORY REPORT SUBMITTED TO THE OHIO STATE
MEDICAL BOARD, I.E., A REPORT PERTAINING TO THE PROFESSIONAL
CONDUCT OF A PHYSICIAN.”
I.
{¶15} In their sole assignment of error, Appellants claim the trial court erred in
ordering the production of the requested material. We agree.
{¶16} The subject of the discovery dispute in this matter is the content of the report
made to the State Medical Board. Appellants maintain that such report is confidential and
privileged. Appellee argues that such report was made in retaliation and does not meet
the requirements of R.C. §4731.224 and thus should not be afforded any statutory
protection.
Stark County, Case No. 2017 CA 00176 5
Standard of Review
{¶17} In Ward v. Summa Health Sys., 128 Ohio St.3d 212, 2010–Ohio–6275, ¶
13, the Supreme Court of Ohio explained:
Ordinarily, a discovery dispute is reviewed under an abuse-of-
discretion standard. Tracy v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (1991), 58
Ohio St.3d 147, 151–152, 569 N.E.2d 875. However, if the discovery issue
involves an alleged privilege, as in this case, it is a question of law that must
be reviewed de novo. Med. Mut. of Ohio v. Schlotterer, 122 Ohio St.3d 181,
2009 Ohio 2496, 909 N.E.2d 1237, ¶13.
{¶18} Insofar as factual issues must be determined by the trial court as a predicate
to resolving the legal question of privilege, such factual determinations should be
accorded deference. MA Equip. Leasing I, LLC v. Tilton, 10th Dist. No. 12AP–564, 2012–
Ohio–4668, ¶ 18.
{¶19} Appellants herein argue that the report which is the subject of Appellee's
discovery request was a mandatory filing on their part and was confidential pursuant to
R.C. §4731.224, which provides:
(B)(1) Except as provided in division (B)(2) of this section, if any
individual authorized to practice under this chapter or any professional
association or society of such individuals believes that a violation of any
provision of this chapter, Chapter 4730., 4759., 4760., 4761., 4762., 4774.,
or 4778. of the Revised Code, or any rule of the board has occurred, the
individual, association, or society shall report to the board the information
upon which the belief is based.
Stark County, Case No. 2017 CA 00176 6
***
(F) All summaries, reports, and records received and maintained by
the board pursuant to this section shall be held in confidence and shall not
be subject to discovery or introduction in evidence in any federal or state
civil action involving a health care professional or facility arising out of
matters that are the subject of the reporting required by this section. The
board may use the information obtained only as the basis for an
investigation, as evidence in a disciplinary hearing against an individual
whose practice is regulated under this chapter, or in any subsequent trial or
appeal of a board action or order.
The board may disclose the summaries and reports it receives under
this section only to health care facility committees within or outside this state
that are involved in credentialing or recredentialing the individual or in
reviewing the individual's clinical privileges. The board shall indicate
whether or not the information has been verified. Information transmitted by
the board shall be subject to the same confidentiality provisions as when
maintained by the board.
{¶20} Appellants further cite R.C. §4731.22(F)(5), in support of their position that
the subject report was confidential and not discoverable:
(F)(5) A report required to be submitted to the board under this
chapter, a complaint, or information received by the board pursuant to an
investigation or pursuant to an inspection under division (E) of section
Stark County, Case No. 2017 CA 00176 7
4731.054 of the Revised Code is confidential and not subject to discovery
in any civil action.
{¶21} Appellee herein argues that the Complaint made against Dr. Aljaberi
to the State Medical Board does not meet the requirements of R.C. §4731.224
because the report was not made within 60 days of the complained of conduct as
required by subsection (C) of the said statute, which provides:
(C) Any professional association or society composed primarily of
doctors of medicine and surgery, doctors of osteopathic medicine and
surgery, doctors of podiatric medicine and surgery, or practitioners of limited
branches of medicine that suspends or revokes an individual's membership
for violations of professional ethics, or for reasons of professional
incompetence or professional malpractice, within sixty days after a final
decision shall report to the board, on forms prescribed and provided by the
board, the name of the individual, the action taken by the professional
organization, and a summary of the underlying facts leading to the action
taken.
{¶22} Upon review, we find that the report which is the subject of this appeal would
have been made pursuant to R.C. §4731.224(B), not R.C. §4731.224(C), which does not
contain a time requirement. We therefore find this argument unpersuasive.
{¶23} Appellee further argues that Lisa Wesie’s testimony before the Medical
Board that she witnessed Dr. Aljaberi physically assault another employee waived any
potential privilege argument.
Stark County, Case No. 2017 CA 00176 8
{¶24} We likewise find this argument unpersuasive. Ms. Wesie is a medical
secretary employed by Neurocare and as such, she has no authority to make decisions
or waive privilege on behalf of the corporate entity. While the issue has never been
directly addressed in Ohio, it can safely be said that, in cases where a corporation,
partnership, or other collective entity is the client, the attorney-client privilege belongs to
the company and not to its employees outside of their employment capacity. Shaffer v.
OhioHealth Corp., 10th Dist. Franklin No. 03AP-102, 2004-Ohio-63, ¶10 citing
Commodity Futures Trading Com'n v. Weintraub (1985), 471 U.S. 343, 348, 105 S.Ct.
1986, 85 L.Ed.2d 372.
{¶25} Upon review of the applicable statutes, we find same to be unambiguous
and straightforward. These statutes clearly provide that reports made to or received by
the State Medical Board pursuant to R.C. Chapter 4731 are confidential and not subject
to discovery. It is apparent that the legislature made the decision to protect reporters in
this situation. While it is possible that such may serve to shield retaliatory reports in rare
instances, the legislature has decided that the benefit of providing protection for reporters
outweighs said possibility.
{¶26} Based on the foregoing, we find that the confidentiality protections and
privileges set forth in R.C. §4731.224 protect the reports made to the State Medical Board
in this case and that such are not subject to discovery. We therefore find the trial court
erred in compelling disclosure of the privileged documents.
{¶27} Accordingly, Appellants' assignment of error is sustained.
Stark County, Case No. 2017 CA 00176 9
{¶28} For the reasons stated in the foregoing opinion, the judgment of the Court
of Common Pleas OF Stark County, Ohio, is reversed and remanded to the trial court for
further proceedings consistent with the law and this opinion.
By: Wise, P. J.
Gwin, J., and
Baldwin, J., concur.
JWW/d 0424