White Plains dermatologist sues Scarsdale competitor to stop using physician assistant
White Plains dermatologist Philip Fried claims that a Scarsdale skin doctor is competing unfairly by employing one of his former physician assistants.
Fried sued the assistant, Jessy W. Ayala of Yonkers, and Dr. Joon Lee for $500,000 on Aug. 24 in Westchester Supreme Court.
“Their brazen and duplicitous conduct,” he charges, diverts patients from his medical practice.
Fried owns five West Derm Center offices in White Plains, New Rochelle, Yonkers and two locations in the Bronx.
He employed Ayala for three years, until December 2019, according to the lawsuit.
Ayala worked as a physician assistant for 20 hours a week and also handled administrative duties, such as coordinating a drug study and managing social media accounts. He was paid $110 an hour for the PA duties and $30,000 a year for the administrative work, for potential annual income of $140,000.
The competition for dermatology patients is intense, according to Fried, so he includes restrictions in employment contracts.
Ayala agreed not to work for two years within eight miles of West Derm”™s Westchester offices, once his job ended, according to the complaint, or to solicit West Derm patients or divulge confidential information.
In July, six months after Ayala lost his job, Lee allegedly called Fried and said she was considering hiring Ayala at Scarsdale Integrative Family Medicine. Fried said he would take legal action to enforce the employment restrictions, and his lawyer sent Lee a letter repeating his position.
Then Fried discovered that Lee”™s See Beyond ”“ Scarsdale Aesthetic Medicine website featured Ayala”™s biography and a link for prospective patients to book consultations with him.
See Beyond”™s Instagram page posted a message welcoming Ayala to the cosmetic team, a notice of a Zoom lecture he would participate in, and a video of him treating a patient.
See Beyond”™s office is on Central Park Avenue in the Edgemont section of Greenburgh, five miles from West Derm”™s White Plains office, six miles from the Yonkers office and seven-and-a-half miles from the New Rochelle office.
Ayala has the right to continue practicing his profession, the complaint states, but not within eight miles of West Derm offices.
Fried”™s attorney demanded that Lee fire Ayala by July 28, according to the complaint, and demanded that Ayala confirm that he no longer works for Lee by July 29.
Ayala allegedly continues to work for Lee within the restricted area.
Lee “is equally complicit in defendant Ayala”™s wrongdoing,” the complaint states.
Fried accuses Ayala of breach of contract and Lee of tortious interference with a contract.
He is demanding $500,000 and a court order restraining Ayala from practicing dermatology within eight miles of West Derm locations, soliciting patients or disclosing confidential information for two years.
Lee and Ayala did not respond to an email sent to See Beyond, asking for their side of the story.
Fried is represented by Long Island attorneys Andrew L. Zwerling and Nicholas M. Summo.