Armato

Plaintiff Ann Armato appeals from summary judgment granted in favor of defendants Scott A. Baden, Philip H. Conwisar, Stephen Kay and William Brien, all doctors who were working part-time as independent contractors for Managed Care Orthopedic Medical Group (Managed Care), but who did not treat plaintiff. Plaintiff was allegedly negligently treated for a broken wrist at Managed Care by its employee physician assistant Rick DeLeon; she sued DeLeon and Managed Care and settled with them for $100,000; plaintiff then filed another action against defendants asserting the theory that even though defendants never met or treated plaintiff or supervised DeLeon’s treatment of her, their conduct in allowing their names and status as doctors to be used in connection with Managed Care led plaintiff to believe that DeLeon was a medical doctor; had plaintiff known that DeLeon was only a physician assistant, she would not have let him treat her. This case presents the issue, apparently one of first impression in California, whether an independent contractor of a professional service corporation which permits his name and status to be associated with the corporation creates an “ostensible…