Moharib v. Misericordia General Hospital, (1996) 107 Man.R.(2d) 283 (CA)

• Judge: Twaddle, Helper and Monnin, JJ.A.
• Court: Court of Appeal (Manitoba)
• Case Date: January 05, 1996
• Jurisdiction: Manitoba
• Citations: (1996), 107 Man.R.(2d) 283 (CA)

Moharib v. Misericordia Hosp. (1996), 107 Man.R.(2d) 283 (CA);

    109 W.A.C. 283

MLB headnote and full text

Nassif Moharib (applicant/appellant) v. Misericordia General Hospital (respondent/respondent)

(Suit No. AI 95-30-02431)

Indexed As: Moharib v. Misericordia General Hospital

Manitoba Court of Appeal

Twaddle, Helper and Monnin, JJ.A.

January 25, 1996.

Summary:

The board of directors of a hospital ter­minated a doctor's privileges on the recom­mendation of an appeal tribunal. The doctor applied to quash the decision of the board of directors.

The Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench, in a decision reported at 105 Man.R.(2d) 163, dismissed the application. The doctor ap­pealed.

The Manitoba Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal.

Administrative Law - Topic 2088

Natural justice - Constitution of board or tribunal - Bias - Apprehension of - A doctor's hospital privileges were terminated on the recommendation of an appeal tribu­nal - The doctor challenged three mem­bers of the tribunal, claiming that there was a reasonable apprehension of bias - The husband of one member worked at a large clinic with three witnesses opposing the doctor - Another member had refused a job offered by a witness and had been a student of another witness - Another member was a nurse and four witnesses were nurses - The trial judge held that the doctor failed to show a reasonable appre­hension of bias - The court stated that the doctor's claims were speculative and ignored the ability of the members to reach an independent decision - The Manitoba Court of Appeal affirmed the decision - See paragraphs 20 to 29.

Administrative Law - Topic 9122

Boards and tribunals - Administrative appeals - Scope of appeal or standard of review - [See first Hospitals - Topic 356 ].

Hospitals - Topic 356

Operation - Doctors - Restriction or revo­cation of hospital privileges - Appeals - A doctor's hospital privileges were terminated by the hospital's board of directors on the recommendation of an appeal tribunal - The doctor claimed that the appeal tribunal could only reverse the fact findings of the judicial hearing committee in cases of "manifest" or "palpable" error in the same fashion as appellate tribunals were restricted from interfering with fact find­ings made by trial judges - He also claimed that the appeal tribunal committed legal errors - The Manitoba Court of Appeal held that the appeal tribunal did not reach a decision so patently unreason­able that it exceeded its jurisdiction - The decision was based on evidence which the judicial hearing committee either accepted or did not expressly or impliedly reject and was one which the appeal tribunal was entitled to make - See paragraphs 30 to 40.

Hospitals - Topic 356

Operation - Doctors - Restriction or revo­cation of hospital privileges - Appeals - A doctor's hospital privileges were terminated on the recommendation of an appeal tribu­nal - The doctor claimed that the appeal tribunal applied its personal knowledge to enhance the evidence and claimed that one member of the tribunal "augmented" the evidence - The trial judge acknowledged that experts on a judicial hearing commit­tee could not superimpose their personal knowledge on the evidence so as to aug­ment as well as weigh it - The court held that the evidence failed to show that the member augmented the evidence before the tribunal - The Manitoba Court of Appeal affirmed the decision - See para­graph 41.

Cases Noticed:

Committee for Justice and Liberty Foun­dation et al. v. National Energy Board et al., [1978] 1 S.C.R. 369; 9 N.R. 115, refd to. [para. 20].

Authors and Works Noticed:

Halsbury's Laws of England (4th Ed. 1976), vol. 1, p. 72, para. 62, p. 150, para. 147 [para. 15].

Counsel:

T.J. Hansell, for the appellant;

M.T. Green, for the respondent.

This appeal was heard on January 5, 1996, before Twaddle, Helper and Monnin, JJ.A., of the Manitoba Court of Appeal. On Jan­uary 25, 1996, Helper, J.A., delivered the following judgment for the court.