Friends Health Care Team, Inc. is embroiled in a legal battle after being found liable for tortiously interfering with the business expectancy of a competitor, Youngs Healthcare, Inc. The case was filed by Youngs Healthcare in the Circuit Court of Fairfax County on June 4, 2019, against Friends Health Care Team and several individuals. Youngs Healthcare alleged that Friends Health Care Team engaged in unfair practices to poach clients and employees from their business.
The dispute between these two healthcare companies centers around allegations that Friends Health Care Team, led by CEO Rebecca Cho, actively sought to recruit clients and employees from Youngs Healthcare. Both companies operate senior day care centers and provide home care services in Annandale, Virginia. The lawsuit claimed that Friends Health Care Team hired former employees of Youngs Healthcare who had signed confidentiality and non-competition agreements prohibiting them from soliciting clients or competing within a certain radius for a specified period.
During the trial that began on October 24, 2022, evidence was presented showing that Friends’ “starting team,” which included former employees of Youngs Healthcare such as Dae J. Yi and Hyunsook Leeim, held meetings to strategize how to attract clients from competitors like Youngs Healthcare. Testimonies revealed attempts to solicit clients directly through phone calls and visits, actions which were contested by Rebecca Cho and her team who denied any wrongdoing.
Young Shin Lee, CEO of Youngs Healthcare, testified about the financial impact of losing clients to Friends Health Care Team. She provided calculations suggesting significant lost profits due to the alleged interference but faced challenges in substantiating these claims with precise documentation during cross-examination. Despite these challenges, the jury awarded $299,376 in compensatory damages and $275,000 in punitive damages to Youngs Healthcare.
However, Friends Health Care Team appealed the decision arguing insufficient evidence supporting the damage awards. They contended that the calculations presented by Young Shin Lee lacked precision and certainty required under Virginia law for awarding such damages. The appellate court reviewed whether there was enough evidence for the jury’s verdict favoring Youngs Healthcare.
Ultimately, Judges Beales, Causey, and White presided over this appeal at Alexandria’s Court of Appeals of Virginia on December 16, 2025. They reversed the lower court’s decision citing inadequate proof of damages as per established legal standards for calculating lost profits in business interference cases.
Representing Friends Health Care Team was Richard F. MacDowell Jr., while J. Chapman Petersen represented Youngs Healthcare alongside Federico J. Zablah from Chap Petersen & Associates PLC.
Source: 1126244_Friends_Health_Care_Team_Inc_v_Youngs_Healthcare_Inc_Complaint_Virginia_Court_of_Appeals.pdf
