Boutros refiles lawsuit against MetroHealth over 2022 firing
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The Glick Center. Photo: Courtesy of HGA / Nic Lehoux Architectural Photography
Former MetroHealth CEO Akram Boutros refiled a blistering lawsuit against MetroHealth and its board of trustees in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Tuesday.
State of play: The suit accuses the board of unjustly terminating Boutros' employment in 2022 over $1.9 million in supplemental bonuses and defaming him in a "late-night smear campaign."
- "What should have been a moment of celebration and recognition as MetroHealth prepared to transition to new leadership instead became a nightmare," the suit says.
By the numbers: The suit estimates that the termination cost Boutros roughly $8 million in compensation, severance and benefits, and as much as $20 million in future compensation.
Between the lines: Boutros initially filed his suit in 2022 but voluntarily withdrew it in 2023 to pursue treatment following a cancer diagnosis.
- Per a statement Tuesday from Boutros' attorneys, the hospital board has rebuffed multiple attempts to settle the matter amicably.
The intrigue: As the saga has played out in the headlines and the court of public opinion, MetroHealth used Boutros' repayment of the $1.9 million, plus interest, as evidence of his wrongdoing.
- But the suit says that Boutros remitted those funds, at the urging of a law firm hired by MetroHealth to investigate the case, "in reliance on their promise to re-assess his performance and entitlement to the incentives."
- It was meant to be temporary, in other words.
Zoom in: An email from Boutros' attorney at the time, quoted in the suit, specifically said the repayment was "not an admission of any wrongdoing ... it is a gesture of goodwill ... reflective of his consistent ethical and just approach to all matters."
The latest: The suit arrives one week after the publication of a report by the state auditor, which determined after a two-year investigation that Boutros' actions were "not criminal."
- Boutros did not directly inform the board of his management of the supplemental bonus program but conveyed the information to outside consultants.
The other side: In a statement Tuesday, MetroHealth said it did not comment on pending litigation and would not "engage in negotiations through the news media."
Yes, but: Signal Cleveland noted that the board issued a statement in December 2022, when Boutros first filed his lawsuit.
- "Dr. Boutros was terminated because we learned he was paying himself almost $2 million in bonuses that had not been authorized by the MetroHealth Board," the statement said. "It's that simple. To claim otherwise is to continue to smear the reputation of the very institution he claims to love and to undermine his successor."