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People ex rel. Department of Public Health v. Wiley

Case Date: 05/26/2004
Court: 1st District Appellate
Docket No: 1-02-3529 Rel

THIRD DIVISION
May 26, 2004



No. 1-02-3529

 

THE PEOPLE ex rel. THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC
HEALTH,

                                       Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.

THELMA E. WILEY,

                                       Defendant-Appellant.

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)		 Appeal from the
Circuit Court of
Cook County




Honorable
Paddy J. McNamara,
Judge Presiding.


JUSTICE KARNEZIS delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiff, the Illinois Department of Public Health (the Department), brought thisaction against defendant, Thelma E. Wiley, M.D., for defendant's alleged failure to complywith the terms of the medical school scholarship contracts she entered into with plaintiffpursuant to the Family Practice Residency Act (the Act) (110 ILCS 935/1 et seq. (West2002)). The Department alleged that plaintiff breached the contracts and sought tripledamages pursuant to section 10 of the Act (110 ILCS 935/10 (West 2002)). The trial courtentered summary judgment in favor of the Department, denied defendant's motion forsummary judgment and denied defendant's posttrial motion for modification of judgment. Defendant appeals, arguing that the court erred because the parties had a settlementagreement settling all claims under the scholarship contracts; genuine issues of materialfact existed regarding whether defendant breached her contractual obligations; and thetriple damages were not recoverable under Illinois law in a breach of contract actionbecause they were punitive. We affirm.

Background

Defendant entered medical school at the University of Illinois in 1985 and graduatedin 1989. For each of the four academic years, the Department awarded defendant ascholarship for payment of her tuition, fees and living expenses pursuant to the Act . Thepurpose of the Act was to establish a program awarding scholarships to eligible medicalstudents who "agree to practice in areas of the State demonstrating the greatest need formore professional medical care. The program shall encourage family practice physicians tolocate in areas where health manpower shortages exist and to increase the total number offamily practice physicians in the State." 110 ILCS 935/2 (West 2002). The Departmentadministers the program and promulgated rules and regulations to that end (77 Ill. Adm.Code