The plaintiff, a doctor, was terminated from his position with a health center. He sued the health center for fraud and breach of contract. (There was a an employment contract between the doctor and the health center.) The Mobile County Circuit Court awarded a summary judgement to the health center. The doctor appealed to the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals, which affirmed the circuit court's decision on the fraud claim, but reversed the circuit court's decision on the breach-of-contract claim. The breach-of-contract claim was reversed and remanded because the health center had not met its burden to show that there was no genuine issue of material fact.
On remand, the health center filed a motion asking the circuit court to award nominal damages of $100 to the doctor, asserting that the appeals court had indicated that the doctor should be awarded nominal damages. The circuit court granted the motion and the doctor once again appealed to the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals. The appeals court reversed the circuit court, indicating that the appeals court had not previously ruled on whether the contract had been breached, but had ruled that there were still genuine issues of material fact that needed to be determined through litigation. See Brooks v. Franklin Primary Health Center, Inc., decided on April 15, 2011.
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