The Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic, Medical Group, Inc. (Kerlan-Jobe), known for its pioneering Tommy John surgery and work with athletes, has filed a $150 million lawsuit today against Cedars-Sinai Medical Care Foundation, Santa Monica Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Group (SMOG), and several top executives. The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court (Case number: 25STCV01015), alleges that Cedars engaged in a decades-long effort all designed to appropriate Kerlan-Jobe’s reputation, intellectual property, assets, and patient base without compensation. “Cedars-Sinai, hiding behind its non-profit status, has orchestrated an underhanded scheme to crush Kerlan-Jobe, steal its assets, and prioritize profits over patient care,” said a spokesperson for Kerlan-Jobe. “We’re fighting not just for our practice, but for the Los Angeles community, including first responders who depend on us.”
Kerlan-Jobe alleges Cedars and members of its executive leadership conspired with SMOG, at times in violation of state and federal law, to:
- Prevent patients from scheduling appointments with Kerlan-Jobe doctors, all while holding itself as Kerlan-Jobe and misleading the public.
- Unlawfully reap a financial windfall for Cedars, ostensibly a “non-profit” healthcare institution, by seizing control of Kerlan-Jobe’s key assets, brand and intellectual property rights, while paying nothing to Kerlan-Jobe in return.
- Drain Kerlan-Jobe of many of its key physicians and coerce them into accepting employment with SMOG in violation of non-compete and fiduciary duties owed to Kerlan-Jobe.
- Retaliate against the remaining Kerlan-Jobe physicians who stood in the way and attempt to starve their medical practices until they will have no choice but to dissolve and fold Kerlan-Jobe into SMOG.
