ManitobaA doctor who thought he was following greener pastures by moving his practice is now suing the physician who brought him to Manitoba, alleging he was wrongfully dismissed and that his provincial incentive was kept by the recruiting physician.Lawsuit also accuses Dr. Shadi Rezazadeh of reaping doctor’s $10K recruitment, resettlement incentiveCBC News · Posted: Sep 07, 2025 7:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 8 hours agoDr. Shadi Rezazadeh told CBC News last year that she had sacrificed some of her family’s savings — around $700,000 in total — to entice 10 doctors to come work at her clinics. She’s now being sued by one of those physicians. (Darin Morash/CBC)A doctor who thought he was following greener pastures by moving his practice is now suing the physician who brought him to Manitoba, alleging he was wrongfully dismissed and a provincial incentive he was entitled to was instead made to the recruiting physician.Dr. Emeka Onyemachi was one of 10 doctors attracted to practise in Manitoba from the United Kingdom by Winnipeg physician Dr. Shadi Rezazadeh, according to his statement of claim.Rezazadeh told CBC News last year that she had sacrificed some of her family’s savings — around $700,000 in total — to entice 10 doctors to the province to work at her clinics.Rezazadeh said the plan was to hire five new physicians at her Trucare Medical Clinic on McPhillips Street, which she’s run for a number of years. Another five were to set up practices at Rivergrove Medical Clinic, on Main Street in north Winnipeg.Onyemachi was practising as a doctor in the U.K. when he made the decision to move to Manitoba, partly due to the incentives offered for physicians in the province, which includes resettlement support, lump sum payments and transitional education support, according to his lawsuit, filed Aug. 28 in Court of King’s Bench.In December 2023, Onyemachi signed a contract with the Trucare clinic, which said he would work there for 36 months beginning March 2024, his statement of claim says.The contract included a clause saying Trucare could terminate the agreement, either with cause with 30 days’ notice, or without notice if Trucare determined he had jeopardized patients or staff at the clinic, according to the suit.It says Rezazadeh told Onyemachi he would work at the Trucare location and have a busy practice, receiving a regular share of new walk-in patients along with marketing, advertising and administrative support.However, Onyemachi claims that in a “fundamental departure” from his contract, he was sent to work at the Rivergrove clinic without his permission or consultation.Accused of making staff ‘fearful’Working at Rivergrove meant he was limited in how many patients he could see and what kinds of services he could provide, as the facility is smaller than Trucare, Onyemachi’s lawsuit says.Rezazadeh said he could work additional shifts at Trucare in order to make up the money he might have missed out on at Rivergrove, the suit says, but that meant more work on top of his regular hours at Rivergrove.In September 2024, he got an email with a termination letter from Trucare, saying he was rude and disrespectful to clinic staff, which made them “fearful.” It also said he showed up on days when he wasn’t scheduled to work and used equipment “in an inequitable way.”The termination letter also referred to an email that Onyemachi had sent earlier that day, which it claimed was “egregious, disrespectful [and] inaccurate,” his lawsuit says.The letter said Onyemachi’s actions “jeopardized the emotional safety” of clinic staff, in breach of his contract. He was asked to leave Trucare within 30 days.Although Onyemachi found a new position elsewhere in October 2024, he claims in the suit that Trucare ignored his requests to have all of his patient records transferred to his new workplace.He also claims Trucare interfered with his new medical practice, by falsely telling his former patients Trucare didn’t know where Onyemachi had gone to work.As well, Onyemachi says he had applied for entitlements under provincial specialist recruitment and physician resettlement funds, but learned that Shared Health, which oversees health care in Manitoba, had already made a $10,000 payment to Rezazadeh without his consent.Onyemachi also claims his earnings were dramatically reduced compared to what he would have earned had he worked exclusively at Trucare, and that he’s entitled to compensation for the difference between his projected income at Trucare and actual earnings at Rivergrove.His suit claims a range of damages, including damages for wrongful dismissal, breach of contract and unjust enrichment, as well as punitive damages.None of the allegations have been proven in court. Statements of defence have not yet been filed.CBC News reached out to Rezazadeh for comment but had not received a reply prior to publication.
Winnipeg doctor who spent $700K to draw physicians to Manitoba sued for wrongful dismissal
