Backing out of a contract

[VagabondMD]

eyes4success wrote:

Thanks for your thoughts, I’ll probably advise her to getting a lawyer if she decides to go through with this.

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In my opinion, I think consulting with a local employment lawyer should be done ASAP. She needs to know what her options are for Job #2 now and Jobs #3,4,5,6.... down the road. It's worth the small investment, maybe up to a couple thousand dollars, to handle this properly.

Anything is possible, but breaking the contract could be costly in time, money, and or reputation. People/docs break employment contracts all the time, and it is very common that many are broken before the docs walk in the door for the first day of work. Often, there is no real cost to the person breaking the contract. Private practices do not want to hire and train people that would rather be somewhere else and will jump ship at the first opportunity.

Nonetheless, the withdrawal should be done with careful consideration and under the advice of an employment attorney who knows the local law and customs for such matters, not as a DIY project being advised by a co-resident and anonymous (albeit well-intentioned) docs on a message board.

[cozmopak]

You don't need legal counsel for walking away from the contract now, assuming there are no damages detailed in the contract for terminating.  You will need legal counsel for navigating the non-compete, though.  That's a stickier issue.

[MPMD]

eyes4success wrote:

I’m just helping her out I don’t know all the specific details and she doesn’t want me to divulge too much information on this forum but she just wanted to get a feel of what would be the right steps. She’s also a surgical sub-specialist.

 

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out of everything you've said this would make me the most nervous for her. she absolutely needs a lawyer.

sad fact is no one really cares for the most part what EM/anesth/hospitalists etc do. we are cogs in the wheel. one of the places i work had like a 5 mile noncompete which was funny b/c there was exactly one other hospital within 5 miles and we are in a huge metro. it was such an obvious pro forma thing.

your friend is someone who could be a rainmaker for a hospital though and if she's a subspecialist she was probably heavily recruited for a specific institutional targeted area of growth.

if an EM doc bails on a contract the CMO is going to say "so find another one." if a gyne-onc does, i fear that might be a different can of worms!