Judge: Doctors’ extra hours unsubstantiated

Two Rota physicians who are demanding $635,187 from the Rota Health Center and the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. simply gave themselves compensation for extra hours without the proper signatures and authorizations, according to the judge handling the case.

In an order yesterday, Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho dismissed the claims filed by Drs. Francois Claassens and James Toskas against RHC and CHCC.

Camacho said no one authorized Claassens and Toskas to obtain additional compensation for working extra hours. Therefore, he said, CHCC is entitled to a dismissal of the breach of contract claim.

Camacho said that since there is a valid contract governing the doctors’ employment at RHC, and since there is nothing on the record to support the existence of an implied term in the employment contract related to excess hour worked, quantum meruit is inappropriate in this case and must be dismissed.

Quantum meruit determines the amount to be paid for services when no contract exists or when there is doubt as to the amount due for the work performed but done under circumstances when payment could be expected.

“Thus, the court need not reach whether quantum meruit claims may be brought against the government, nor whether such claims are barred by sovereign immunity,” Camacho said.

In their lawsuit filed in September 2017, Claassens is demanding payment of $308,000 for all administrative leave, while Toskas is seeking payment of $327,187 for all administrative leave.

The two doctors alleged that RHC and CHCC failed to compensate them for thousands of hours of administrative leave.
RHC and CHCC, through Office of the Attorney General Civil Division chief Christopher M. Timmons, moved to dismiss the lawsuit.

Timmons described the two physicians claim as a “sweetheart backroom deal.”

Timmons argued that the claim for breach of contract is improper since the agreements in question are unenforceable. Timmons said the claim for quantum meruit is improper as quantum meruit is not available where there is a valid contract and because quantum meruit cannot be alleged against the government.

The doctors, through counsel Stephen Nutting, opposed the motion.

Nutting said the court should find the contracts to be legal and enforceable because the director of Office of Personnel Management approved the terms at the time of initial employment and subsequently approved the terms during the renewal process.

Nutting said the court should find that even if the RHC resident directors and Rota mayor did not have the authority to bind the government in their agreements with the doctors, agents with authority later ratified the doctors’ contracts, including the terms in dispute, during the renewal process when they were fully routed.

In granting the motion to dismiss yesterday, Camacho said the doctors attached to their complaint various documents in support of their claims of entitlement to compensation for hours worked beyond the standard workweek.

Camacho said many of these documents were unsigned, while others were signed by one or both doctors.

However, Camacho said, none of these addenda were signed by the individuals who could bind CHCC.

Moreover, the judge said, the doctors admitted that they were not aware of any document waiving or amending section 13 of the general terms and conditions that was signed by the signatories to the excepted service employment agreement.

“Accordingly, none of the purported addenda could have created any obligation on the part of the government to provide compensation not agreed in the excepted service employment contract itself,” he said.

For example, Camacho said, the addenda were not signed by the director of Personnel whose signature is an essential and necessary part of Executive Branch employment contracts.