Plaintiff Murray-Calloway County Public Hospital Corporation (MCCH) hired Cheryl Coors and Coors Executive Resources LTD to recruit an ENT (earnose throat) doctor for an opening at the hospital. Coors successfully recruited Defendant Dr. Samuel E. Sprehe, and in January 2005, he signed a contract and agreed to open an ENT practice at MCCH. Sprehe's time at the hospital was short-lived, however, and he left the practice after approximately one year.
MCCH then sued Sprehe to recover money advanced under the terms of their contract. In response to the lawsuit, Sprehe filed a counterclaim against MCCH and a third-party claim against Coors and MCCH's former CEO, Jon O'Shaugnessy. Sprehe's sole cause of action in the third-party complaint was fraudulent misrepresentation. He alleges that Coors made multiple fraudulent statements about the potential for an ENT practice at MCCH and that he relied on those statements to his financial detriment.
The fraudulent misrepresentations alleged by Sprehe fall into two broad categories. First, in the "market" category, Sprehe alleges that Coors misrepresented the potential level of patient volumes and the absence of competition for an ENT practice in Murray, Kentucky. Specifically, Sprehe claimed that Coors told him that Murray and the surrounding communities were in "desperate" need of a local ENT practice, that there was a "bonanza" of potential patients, and that there were no other ENT doctors in the relevant market area. Additionally, Sprehe alleges that Coors misrepresented the research she had done to substantiate her claims about Murray's ENT market.
Second, in the "finance" category, Sprehe claims that Coors told him that MCCH was going to "bankroll" his practice by providing an office, staff, and all of the necessary equipment to have a successful ENT practice. Sprehe claimed that he relied on these fraudulent misrepresentations to his financial detriment and that Coors is liable for those losses. Plaintiff MCCH filed a motion for summary judgment. How do you believe the court ruled and why? [Murray-Calloway County Public Hospital Corporation, Plaintiff v. Samuel E. Sprehe, M.D., Defendant/Third-Party Plaintiff V. Jon O'Shaughnessy; Cheryl Coors, Individually; And Coors Executive Resources, Ltd, Third-Party Defendants, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 42724 (2012).]