Opinion ID: 834832
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: analysis in this case

Text: With that legal backdrop, we turn to the record in this case to assess whether, based on it, a jury could find the LLC vicariously liable for Borman's negligence. In arguing that a jury could do so, plaintiff's central thesis is that the LLC, through various actions and inactions, promoted itself as a group medical entity and thereby assumed responsibility for the negligence of the medical providers that appeared to be a part of that entity. Plaintiff relies on the fact that the LLC placed signage on the building, designating it the Willamette Spine Center and using the WSC logo. Plaintiff likewise relies on the fact the individual medical practitioners in the building used business cards that included, either at the top of the cards or as part of the address for their offices, the words Willamette Spine Center and the WSC logo. In that regard, plaintiff acknowledges that the LLC did not require the tenants to use the building name or logo. But plaintiff contends that the LLC acquiesced in their use of the name and logo and, by doing so, contributed to the perception that Willamette Spine Center was an entity in the business of delivering medical services, and not just a building that housed medical providers engaged in independent practices. Finally, plaintiff relies on the fact that Freeman referred to Willamette Spine Center as his clinic and to Borman as a Willamette Spine Center surgeon. Plaintiff contends that, because Freeman was an owner/member of the LLC landlord of the building, Freeman's representations were those of the LLC itself, not of Freeman as a chiropractor, or at least a jury could so conclude. Taken together, plaintiff argues, the circumstances reasonably led plaintiff to believe that he was seeking treatment from an entity the Willamette Spine Centerrather than from independent medical providers whose practices were in that building. [15] We disagree that the record in this case provides a sufficient basis to conclude that the LLC held itself out as a medical entity that was itself a provider of medical services that it delivered through agents, such as Borman, who were subject to the LLC's control. On the record before us, the LLC's role was typical of a landlord of a professional office building. As a landlord, the LLC developed the building for use as medical office space and leased the offices inside specifically to medical providers with specialties related to spinal care. The LLC then denominated the building Willamette Spine Center with signage and a logo. In doing so, the LLC did what is customary and usual for a landlord of a professional office buildingit leased space to professionals with the same or related specialties (doctors, dentists, lawyers, engineers, architects, among others) in a single office building and gave the structure a trade name, one that is descriptive and memorable for purposes of marketing and promoting the practices of the professionals who have offices there. See, e.g., Slavik v. Parkway Hosp., 242 A.D.2d 376, 661 N.Y.S.2d 274, 275 (1997) (leasing corporation used trade name Corona Medical & Dental Center for office building housing independent medical and other health professionals); Hylton v. Flushing Hosp. and Med. Ctr., 218 A.D.2d 604, 630 N.Y.S.2d 748, 749 (1995) (owner of building leased to individual medical and dental practitioners used signage Medical and Dental Services on awning of building). At best for plaintiff, so denominating the building reasonably could convey to a third party that the practitioners in the building were associated in some way with one another. It could not reasonably convey that the building housed an entity that directly provided medical services and that the practitioners in the building were the entity's employees or subject to the entity's oversight, direction, or control. As the court observed in Hylton, to conclude that use of professional building trade names can create an apparent agency relationship between professional providers and the landlords of such buildings would expose to liability for medical malpractice every landlord with the word `medical' appearing on its premises. 630 N.Y.S.2d at 750. The legal principles that apply here are not so lax. The other LLC representations on which plaintiff relies, both alone and in combination, similarly conveyed at most some form of association or affiliation among the tenants, not a principal-agency relationship with the requisite right of control on the part of the LLC. As plaintiff argues, the tenants used the building name and logo on their business cards, and the LLC reasonably should have expected that they would do so. [16] But such use by the tenants suggested no particular relationship between the building occupants beyond an affiliation or association of some kind. That is particularly so given that, here, each provider had his or her own individual contact information on the card as well, such as telephone numbers and e-mail addresses. Also, the LLC listed each provider's individual name on the door into the building; several of the providers were LLCs themselves and included that designation in their names, necessarily indicating their separate legal and business existence. The business cards, in combination with the individual names listed at the entrance to the building, reasonably communicated the independence of the individual providers, not that they were agents of some other entity subject to that entity's right of control. Plaintiff nevertheless urges that he reasonably perceived that he was dealing with a single entity ( i.e., a single group medical practice) because Freeman once referred to his clinic, the Willamette Spine Center and also referred to Borman as a Willamette Spine Center surgeon. The parties disagree whether those two statements by Freeman are attributable to the LLC given, on the one hand, Freeman's status as one of the LLC members and, on the other, the fact that plaintiff knew nothing about the existence of the LLC or Freeman's role in it, and Freeman made the statements in the only capacity that plaintiff knew Freeman to haveas a chiropractor. We need not, however, resolve that disagreement. [17] At best for plaintiff, Freeman's isolated oral statements reasonably might create or reinforce a perception that the medical practitioners in the building were affiliated with each other. His statements bear no comparison, however, to the kind of representations that have led to entity liability for medical malpractice on an apparent agency theory for hospitals or other medical providers. [18] That is, Freeman's statements reasonably could not have been understood, either explicitly or implicitly, to hold out Willamette Spine Center as an entity that was a direct provider of health care, the quality of which Willamette Spine Center as a discrete entity oversaw and controlled. Plaintiff's case also fails on the second key element for vicarious liability on an apparent agency theorywhether the plaintiff actually and reasonably relied on the LLC's representations by looking to Willamette Spine Center as an entity (real or reasonably perceived), rather than to a specific professional, for his care. By plaintiff's own account, he began treatment with Freeman because he and Freeman had met in the coffee shop in which plaintiff worked. Plaintiff knew that Freeman was a chiropractor and was affiliated with Willamette Spine Center. He chose to treat with Freeman based on [their] acquaintance. Plaintiff did not describe having otherwise heard of or known anything about Willamette Spine Center. He did not describe wanting to obtain treatment through that perceived entity, regardless of the individual who delivered that care. The only conclusion that plaintiff's testimony supports is that Freeman's association with Willamette Spine Center was happenstance in terms of plaintiff's reliance; it was plaintiff's personal relationship with Freeman that led him to be treated by practitioners in that building. No evidence thus supports a conclusion that, subjectively, plaintiff relied on the signage or any other representation by the LLC to believe that the LLC was itself a medical provider. Even if plaintiff had done so, however, that reliance would not have been reasonable. A key distinction between this case and other cases in which courts have found a basis for vicarious liability is that here, unlike in those cases, there was no actual entity ( e.g., a hospital, an outpatient clinic) with which plaintiff dealt, or could have dealt. Inside the building denominated Willamette Spine Center, all appearances were that the practitioners were independent medical providers. There was no common staff or even a common receptionist. Each medical provider in the building had his or her own office, own professional staff, and own exam and waiting rooms (although some, such as Borman and Tiley, shared certain limited spaces). Each medical provider used his or her own forms and billed to his or her own accounts for his or her services. Each had unique contact information, including phone numbers and e-mail addresses. The record suggests no means for plaintiff, or any other third party, to have contacted Willamette Spine Center as an entity or to deal with it as an entity, had plaintiff or anyone else tried. There was no phone number to call, no address or e-mail for correspondence, no receptionist to talk to, and no one in charge who oversaw the delivery of medical services and whom a patient could approach with question or complaints. In consulting with Borman, plaintiff dealt with Borman as the independent provider that he was. By plaintiff's own description, Freeman referred him to Borman. Borman's name, along with those of all the other building tenants, was listed on the outside of the building, near the door. Borman had his own office, his own phone number and e-mail address, and his own staff. He shared common areas (exam rooms, waiting rooms) with only one other physician. Billings for his services were payable to his own accounts. His letterhead and patient forms had only his own name on them. To be seen by Borman, plaintiff had to fill out a new patient medical history. Borman performed surgery at a local hospital, not in the building where he had his office. In short, plaintiff was led to Borman because of his personal relationship with Freeman, who had referred plaintiff to Borman in the same way that any medical professional customarily refers patients to a specialist. He was not seeking treatment by a nonexistent entity (Willamette Spine Center), which in turn assigned him to or otherwise controlled his selection of surgeons. Indeed, no reasonable person in plaintiff's position could conclude that Willamette Spine Center, as an entity, was in the business of surgery or of overseeing the performance of any surgeon housed in the building, given that plaintiff's surgery was not performed in that building, but was instead performed at a local hospital. Plaintiff's belief that Borman was a Willamette Spine Center surgeon was objectively reasonable only to the extent that plaintiff understood Borman to be an independent medical professional who associated with related specialists by having his practice in a common office building and by referring patients, as appropriate, to other practitioners in the building. To whatever extent plaintiff subjectively believed Borman to be an employee or other agent under the control of an entity (Willamette Spine Center) that was a direct provider of medical servicessomething plaintiff did not say he believedthat belief was unreasonable in these circumstances. For those reasons, we conclude that the record is inadequate to permit a jury to hold the LLC liable for Borman's negligent surgery on the theory that Borman was the apparent agent of the LLC. Contrary to plaintiff's position, to impose liability on the LLC in this circumstance, it is not enough that the LLC contributed to the appearance that the medical practitioners in its building were affiliated in some way with each other and made beneficial referrals to each other. Rather, for the LLC to be liable for the medical malpractice of the professionals in the building, plaintiff had to look to the LLC, not individual medical providers, for his treatment, including the surgery that Borman performed. Plaintiff would have had to have dealt with Borman based on a reasonable belief, traceable to the LLC, that Borman was the LLC's employee or was otherwise subject to the LLC's right of control in performing that surgery. The facts and circumstances presented on this record would not permit a jury to so conclude. Consequently, the trial court correctly granted the LLC's motion for summary judgment. The decision of the Court of Appeals and the judgment of the trial court are affirmed.