SEMO Services, Inc. v. BNSF Railway Company (2022)

Citation: SEMO Services, Inc. v. BNSF Railway Company (2022)
Parent Document: SEMO Services, Inc. v. BNSF Railway Company (2022)
Jurisdiction: Missouri (state)
Effective Date: 2022-12-13
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10630559/semo-services-inc-v-bnsf-railw... ↗

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SEMO also argues that Clinch v. Heartland Health offers worthwhile guidance when
identifying improper means. 187 S.W.3d 10 (Mo. App. W.D. 2006). In Clinch, the Western
District reversed the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the defendant,
Nellestein, because there was a genuine issue of whether the defendant used improper means
through defamation and misrepresentation to interfere with Clinch’s contractual relationship with
the hospital, Heartland Health. /d. at 18-19. The hospital terminated Clinch’s contract after a
fellow surgeon, Nellestein, accused Clinch of having a 35 percent complication rate with his
surgeries and suggested the hospital investigate. /d. at 13, 18. The court held that a jury could
infer that Nellestein defamed Clinch and misled hospital officials without explaining that he had
neither isolated the causes nor conducted a more complete analysis of the 35 percent
complication rate as well as suggesting they investigate. Jd. at 18-19. Ultimately, the hospital
reviewing authority did not find any problems with “Clinch’s morbidity, mortality or infection
rates.” Id. at 13.

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