The MetroHealth System board responded in court Friday to a lawsuit filed by the hospital system’s former CEO Dr. Akram Boutros that asserts he was improperly fired after the hospital board falsely accused him of awarding himself unauthorized bonuses.
Boutros filed the lawsuit after MetroHealth, Cuyahoga County's safety net hospital, fired him in November. The board said it fired Boutros "with cause" because he gave himself $1.9 million dollars in bonuses without board approval.
Boutros has denied any wrongdoing and has repaid the bonuses with interest.
In its response filed Friday in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, the hospital board said a judge should dismiss Boutros' lawsuit "because the Plaintiff engaged in fraud," according to court documents.
Boutros is seeking damages for breach of contract and defamation.
The board said it did not approve an extra bonus program or authorize Boutros to set extra goals, evaluate his own performance and reward himself for meeting them.
The board said in the court filing that Boutros was not allowed to set his own compensation.
In his lawsuit, Boutros pointed to a 2022 board resolution he said empowered him to award "performance based incentive program payments (PBVC, one-time recognition, supplemental incentives" to "eligible employees based on System and individual performance" as long as they did not exceed a set amount of money. Senior hospital leaders, Boutros said "were all aware of and participated in the program."
The hospital, in its response, denied those meetings took place.
Boutros has also filed a separate lawsuit against MetroHealth's board that alleges the hospital board violated Ohio's Open Meeting Act during the hiring process for Boutros' replacement and retaliated against him when he blew the whistle.
The hospital denies those allegations and said it stands by its actions.
Boutros also filed a third suit to appeal his firing as "illegal, arbitrary, capricious, (and) unreasonable," court records show.
That suit was dismissed Friday because the court ruled it did not have jurisdiction over his claims.
