DAVID C. HEFELFINGER, M.D., APPELLANT,
v.
C. E. DAVID, M.D., ET AL., APPELLEES

Fla. 1st DCA | 1975-01-06
No. U-288
McCORD, J., and SPECTOR, SAM, Associate Judge (Retired), concur.
305 So. 2d 823 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1975) Positive Treatment
Cited by 4 cases

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Synopsis

A pediatrician challenged a non-compete agreement restricting his practice in Escambia County for two years following termination from a medical clinic. The court upheld the non-compete covenant as reasonable but reversed the trial court's dismissal of the physician's counterclaim for unpaid fees.


Holding

The non-compete covenant was enforceable as reasonable in time and area, consistent with Akey v. Murphy. The trial court erred in dismissing the counterclaim; the physician was entitled to judgment for $6,817.50 in earned fees collected after his departure.


Headnotes

[1] A restrictive covenant prohibiting a physician from practicing in a specific county for two years is enforceable if the time and area restrictions are reasonable and do n…

[2] A trial court's finding that a restrictive covenant is reasonable in time and area, and does not jeopardize public health, will be affirmed if supported by the record.

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Key Quotes

“if this agreement and his association with the Medical Center Clinic are terminated for any reason, he will not engage in the practice of medicine for a period of two years from the time of such termination in Escambia County, Florida”

The non-compete clause from the employment agreement that was subject to enforcement

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Facts & Procedural History

Dr. Hefelfinger signed an employment agreement with Medical Center Clinic in June 1971 containing a two-year non-compete clause for Escambia County. I…

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Opinion of the Court
RAWLS, Chief Judge.

[*824] RAWLS, Chief Judge.

Appellant Hefelfinger signed an agreement on June 13, 1971, to become an associate pediatrician with the appellees (approximately 50 doctors practicing medicine under the name of the Medical Center Clinic in Pensacola). The agreement provided inter alia:

“ . . .if this agreement and his association with the Medical Center Clinic are terminated for any reason, he will not engage in the practice of medicine for a period of two years from the time of such termination in Escambia County, Florida . . . ”

In January, 1973, after appellant had been advised that his association with the clinic was being terminated and that he could not practice medicine in Escambia County for two years, appellant opened his own office five blocks from the clinic and began practicing medicine in Escambia County, Florida. Appellees filed suit seeking enforcement of the two year noncompetitive clause and after extensive legal skirmishing the trial court entered the final judgment appealed enjoining appellant from “. . . competing with the plaintiffs directly or indirectly in the practice of pediatrics in Escambia County, Florida for a period of two years from January 17, 1973”, and dismissing appellant’s counterclaim for fees claimed to have been due him.

Appellant challenges the trial court’s final judgment on the following grounds: (1) In holding that the agreement not to compete falls within the purview of F.S. 542.12(2) ; (2) enjoining him from practicing pediatrics in Escambia County for two years; and (3) in dismissing his counterclaim.

The first two points raised by appellant are controlled by the Supreme Court’s decision in Akey v. Murphy.1 As reviewed in Akey, this Court reached a contrary view in Bergh v. Stephens;2 however, Akey clearly overruled our construction of the subject statute. The trial court specifically found: “The evidence shows a need for pediatricians in Escambia County, Florida. This need is not so compelling as to require an adjudication that the public health is so jeopardized that the restrictive covenant should not be enforced . . . The covenant as to time and area is reasonable.” The record supports the trial court’s finding and thus it is affirmed.3 Akey v. Murphy, supra.

Finally, as to appellant’s counterclaim, we conclude that the trial court erred. The evidence is uncontradicted that prior to his termination with the Medical Clinic, he had earned the sum of $6,817.50, which was collected after he departed. The foregoing sum, as testified to by the clinic’s Business Manager, was the amount collected less general clinic overhead attributable to the department, and paid to the departmental head. The pediatrics department then subtracted its operating overhead prior to computing the sum due appellant, even though appellant was not a member of the department, but had been terminated. The trial court is directed to enter judgment in favor of appellant and against appellees in the sum of $6,817.50.

Affirmed in part; reversed in part.

McCORD, J., and SPECTOR, SAM, Associate Judge (Retired), concur. . 238 So. 2d 94 (1970).

. 175 So. 2d 787 (1965).

. Appellant also argues that the trial court erred in not admitting into evidence minutes of a meeting of the Escambia Medical Society which contained a resolution condemning legal action against one of its members which would deprive the Pensacola community of much needed medical care in a primary care speciality and questioning the morality of restrictive practice covenants. Such “Town Hall Meeting Resolutions” clearly are not admissible in a contractual action.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Tomasello, Inc. v. Santos, 394 So. 2d 1069 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981)
    …ing statute, we might find differently; but such is not the case. Appellee contracted not to compete in Palm Beach for a period of two years following the termination of employment. That restriction was facially reasonable. See Hefelfinger v. David, 305 So. 2d 823 (Fla. 1st DCA 1975). If appellee considered his employment contract to be unreasonable in area, it was incumbent upon him in this case to plead and prove his contention. Accordingly, the final judgment is affirmed except as to its limitation to a g…
  • …titlement to equitable relief for enforcement of a covenant may have become two separate issues given the way in which the 1990 amendment was drafted, we will treat only the question of enforceability by injunction. . See also Hefelfinger v. David, 305 So. 2d 823 (Fla. 1st DCA 1975). . We see no merit at all in Jewett's argument that Dr. White's sale of his stock pursuant to the stock redemption agreement brings him within the final provision of section 542.33. . We also observe that since the legislature…

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