A licensed physician from the United Kingdom was recruited to work at a clinic in Pennsylvania. During

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A licensed physician from the United Kingdom was recruited to work at a clinic in Pennsylvania. During his employment interviews, the physician was told that the clinic wanted him to obtain board certification from the American Board of Radiology. To do so, a physician must complete four years of uninterrupted employment at an approved residency program. The interviewers stressed that the doctor would have to be at the clinic for at least four years and that he would need to obtain his board certification within six years. The physician indicated that he understood the arrangement and that, in fact, obtaining board certification was his primary motive for taking the position. The form offer letter given to the physician and signed by him stated that he “will be granted 4-6 years from the date of employment to become board certified,” and that if he fails to obtain board certification within six years, “continued employment…will need to be reevaluated.” The offer letter also stated that the offer was subject to execution of a separate “Practice Agreement,” which apparently was not included with the offer letter. At the time of his recruitment, the physician was in the United States on a temporary visa That visa expired and the clinic sponsored the physician for an H-1B visa. In the course of doing so, the clinic averred to immigration authorities that he had at least a three-year employment commitment. The physician’s wife worked for Morgan Stanley in Britain. On the assumption that he would be in the United States for at least four years, she arranged a transfer to the United States. As a condition of the transfer, she signed a contract stipulating that she would remain in the United States for several years. The physician then began his employment in the United States with the clinic. Shortly after starting, he signed a cop of the Practice Agreement, which included a statement that the employee “acknowledge[s] that [his] employment is ‘at will’ and may be terminated at any time by either party for any or no reason.” The physician said that he did not read the agreement because he was not given time to do so and he was told that it was “nothing important, but it would help if we could just get it signed.” The physician’s performance was apparently quite satisfactory, but after less than two years on the job, he was accused of having dissuaded job candidates from working at the clinic (he denied doing so) and his employment was terminated. Should the clinic be liable for breach of contract or some other legal claim by the physician? Why or why not?

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