Goodrich v. Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center

Filed 4/27/16 CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION SIX

KAREN E. GOODRICH, 2d Civil No. B259724 (Super. Ct. No. CV130053) Plaintiff and Appellant, (San Luis Obispo County)

v.

SIERRA VISTA REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER,

Defendant and Respondent.

The trial court denied Dr. Karen E. Goodrich’s petition for writ of administrative mandate challenging the decision of Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center (Sierra Vista) to terminate her from its medical staff. Thereafter, Goodrich, acting in propria persona, filed three motions attempting to relitigate the court’s final judgment on the petition. The court denied the motions and declared her to be a vexatious litigant under Code of Civil Procedure section 391, subdivision (b)(2) and (3).1 Goodrich contends on appeal that the filing of three motions was insufficient to justify the vexatious litigant determination. We conclude substantial evidence supports that finding. The trial court, after denying the second motion, admonished Goodrich that she could be declared a vexatious litigant “if similar unsubstantiated motions continue to be filed without any reasonable likelihood of success.” She failed to heed this admonition. Accordingly, we affirm.

1 All further statutory references are to the Code of Civil Procedure.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND Goodrich is a board certified obstetrician and gynecologist who was appointed to Sierra Vista’s medical staff. In 2012, she was denied reappointment to her position due to alleged concerns about her fitness for practice. She also failed to appear at an administrative hearing before Sierra Vista’s judicial review committee. Goodrich’s attorney filed a petition for writ of administrative mandate challenging Sierra Vista’s decision to terminate her staff privileges. Goodrich sought an order either reappointing her to the staff or providing her with a new administrative hearing. The trial court denied the petition, finding that Goodrich did not have good cause to miss the administrative hearing and that the decision not to reappoint her was sufficiently supported. Notice of entry of judgment was served on June 4, 2013. Goodrich did not appeal the judgment. After her attorney withdrew from the case, Goodrich, acting in propria persona, filed five separate motions challenging the trial court’s decision. Each motion was denied. The court found “no legal, factual or procedural basis to . . . consider motions related to a matter that has been adjudicated and judgment entered.” On October 7, 2013, Sierra Vista moved for an order declaring Goodrich a vexatious litigant under section 391, subdivision (b)(2). The trial court denied the motion, noting that only two of Goodrich’s filings occurred after expiration of the time to appeal the judgment: (1) a motion for leave to file an amended petition, filed on August 14, 2013, and (2) an ex parte application seeking approval of certain orders, filed on September 18, 2013. Citing Holcomb v. U.S. Bank. Nat. Assn. (2005) 129 Cal.App.4th 1494, 1504 (Holcomb), the court determined the two filings were insufficient to support a determination that Goodrich is a vexatious litigant. The court stated, however, that its decision on the motion was “without prejudice, to renewal if similar unsubstantiated motions continue to be filed without any reasonable likelihood of success.” On July 28, 2014, Goodrich, again appearing in propria persona, filed a motion for temporary and permanent injunction and related relief based on changed circumstances. Like her earlier motions, it attacked the validity of the judgment. The