| Scott v Beth Israel Med. Ctr., Inc. |
| 2008 NY Slip Op 00562 [47 AD3d 541] |
| January 29, 2008 |
| Appellate Division, First Department |
| W. Norman Scott, Respondent, v Beth Israel MedicalCenter, Inc., et al., Appellants. |
—[*1] Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, New York City (Mark H. Alcott of counsel),for respondent.
Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Charles E. Ramos, J.), entered September 26,2007, which denied defendants' motion for summary judgment dismissing plaintiff's first twocauses of action for breach of an employment contract, with leave to renew following thecompletion of discovery, unanimously reversed, on the law, without costs, the motion grantedand the first two causes of action dismissed.
The record on appeal contains ample undisputed evidence supporting defendant Beth IsraelMedical Center's determination that plaintiff breached the duty of good faith and loyalty he owedit (see Maritime Fish Prods. v World-Wide Fish Prods., 100 AD2d 81, 87-88 [1984],appeal dismissed 63 NY2d 675 [1984]), and demonstrating as a matter of law that itsdissatisfaction with his conduct was genuine, affording it good cause to terminate hisemployment (see Golden v Worldvision Enters., 133 AD2d 50, 51 [1987], lvdenied 71 NY2d 804 [1988]).
While an individual may seek another position before leaving his or her employment, he orshe may not make use of the employer's time, facilities or proprietary secrets in preparation forengaging in a competing business or endeavor (see Maritime Fish Prods., 100 AD2d at88). Plaintiff not only began offering himself to Beth Israel's competitors while there were stillyears left on his contract, but also, in the process, offered the services of the entire orthopedicsdepartment, without even obtaining the permission of all the affected doctors, and used hisposition as chairman of the department to obtain various confidential documents containingcontractual and financial information that Beth Israel did not provide to the public and that itdisseminated internally on a need-to-know basis, and turned these documents over to BethIsrael's competitors (see Bronx-Lebanon Hosp. Ctr. v Wiznia, 284 AD2d 265, 265-266[2001], lv dismissed 97 NY2d 653 [2001]; Gibbs v Breed, Abbott & Morgan,271 AD2d 180, 185-186 [2000]). Concur—Lippman, P.J., Mazzarelli, Gonzalez, Sweenyand Acosta, JJ.