otion

 

No.

 

119368

NAILAH

 

K.

 

BYRD

CUYAHOGA

 

COUNTY

 

CLERK

 

OF

 

COURTS

1200

 

Ontario

 

Street

Cleveland,

 

Ohio

 

44113

Court

 

of

 

Common

 

Pleas

 OTION

 

TO...

September

 

21,2023

 

17:47

By:

 

JASON

 

R.

 

BRISTOL

 

0072989

Confirmation

 

Nbr.

 

2970676

AKRAM

 

BOUTROS,

 

M.D.

vs.

THE

 

METROHEALTH

 

SYSTEM,

 

ET

 

AL.

CV

 

22

 

972601

Judge:

 

SHANNON

 

M.

 

GALLAGHER

Pages

 

Filed:

 

91

Electronically

 

Filed

 

09/21/2023

 

17:47

 

/

 

MOTION

 

/

 

CV

 

22

 

972601

 

/

 

Confirmation

 

Nbr.

 

2970676

 

/

 

CLAJB

 

IN

 

THE

 

COURT

 

OF

 

CO ON

 

PLEAS

 

CUYAHOGA

 

COUNTY,

 

OHIO

AKRA

BOUTROS,

 

.D.,

)))))

Case

 

No.:

 

CV-22-972601

Plaintiff,

Judge

 

Shannon

 

M.

 

Gallagher

v.

)

PLAINTIFF

’

S

 

OTION

 

TO

 

CO PEL

THE

 

ETROHEALTH

 

SYSTE ,

)

THE

 

DEPOSITION

 

TESTI ONY

 

OF

 t

 

al.,

))))

AIRICA

 

STEED

Defendants.

Pursuant

 

to

 

Civ.

 

R.

 

37(A)(1),

 

L.R.

 

8.0(E),

 

and

 

this

 

Court

’

s

 

Litigation

 

Preferences,

 

Plaintiff

 

Akram

 

Boutros,

 

M.D.,

 

hereby

 

moves

 

the

 

Court

 

for

 

an

 

Order

 

compelling

 

the

 

deposition

 

testimony

 

of

 

Defendant

 

The

 

MetroHealth

 

System

’

s

 

Chief

 

Executive

 

Officer,

 

Airica

 

Steed.

 

Ms.

 

Steed

’

s

 

deposition

 

was

 

properly

 

noticed

 

by

 

Plaintiff

’

s

 

counsel;

 

however,

 

Ms.

 

Steed

 

has

 

refused

 

to

 

appear

 

as

 

noticed,

 

and

 

despite

 

multiple

 

communications

 

and

 

conferrals

 

with

 

defense

 

counsel

 

on

 

the

 

topic,

 

Defendant

 

maintains

 

its

 

position

 

that

 

Ms.

 

Steed

 

will

 

not

 

appear

 

for

 

a

 

deposition

 

absent

 

a

 

Court

 

order

 

to

 

do

 

so.

 

Defendant

’

s

 

position

 

is

 

contrary

 

to

 

the

 

Civil

 

Rules

 

and

 

Local

 

Rules

 

of

 

this

 

Court,

 

and

 

the

 

Court

 

should

 

Order

 

Ms.

 

Steed

 

to

 

appear

 

for

 

deposition.

 

A

 

proposed

 

order

 

is

 

attached

 

to

 

this

 

Motion

 

as

 

Exhibit

 

1

.

FACTUAL

 

BACKGROUND

I.

 

Introduction

On

 

November

 

21,

 

2022,

 

Defendant

 

The

 

MetroHealth

 

System

 

terminated

 

the

 

employment

 

of

 

Plaintiff

 

Akram

 

Boutros

 

in

 

reliance

 

on

 

an

 

investigative

 

report

 

which

 

concluded

 

that

 

Dr.

 

Boutros

 

had

 

received

 

“

unauthorized

”

 

bonus

 

compensation

 

from

 

2018-2022

 

which

 

he

 

had

 

supposedly

 

Electronically

 

Filed

 

09/21/2023

 

17:47

 

/

 

MOTION

 

/

 

CV

 

22

 

972601/

 

Confirmation

 

Nbr.

 

2970676

 

/

 

CLAJB

 

concealed

 

from

 

the

 

MetroHealth

 

Board

 

of

 

Trustees,

 

from

 

the

 

Defendants

’

 

executive

 

compensation

 

consultants

 

-

 

Sullivan

 

Cotter

 

and

 

Findley

 

Davies

 

-

 

and

 

from

 

the

 

media.

 

The

 

termination

 

and

 

subsequent

 

statements

 

released

 

by

 

MetroHealth

 

and

 

its

 

agents

 

destroyed

 

Dr.

 

Boutros

’

s

 

reputation

 

and

 

eliminated

 

his

 

future

 

prospects

 

for

 

employment.

The

 

termination

 

was

 

rushed

 

and

 

by

 

its

 

very

 

terms,

 

the

 

investigative

 

report

 

was

 

incomplete.

 

The

 

Board

 

of

 

Trustees

 

received

 

the

 

report

 

on

 

Saturday

 

morning,

 

November

 

19,

 

2022,

 

and

 

voted

 

to

 

terminate

 

Dr.

 

Boutros

’

s

 

employment

 

less

 

than

 

72

 

hours

 

later,

 

on

 

Monday

 

evening.

 

Discovery

 

has

 

revealed

 

that

 

every

 

basis

 

and

 

supposed

 

justification

 

for

 

the

 

termination

 

was

 

false.

MetroHealth

 

terminated

 

Dr.

 

Boutros

’

s

 

employment

 

because

 

he

 

supposedly

 

concealed

 

his

 

receipt

 

of

 

supplemental

 

incentive

 

payments

 

and

 

his

 

actual

 

total

 

cash

 

compensation

 

from

 

the

 

Board

 

of

 

Trustees.

 

But

 

even

 

the

 

Defendants

’

 

incomplete

 

discovery

 

has

 

revealed

 

documents

 

plainly

 

showing

 

that

 

as

 

of

 

2019,

 

Dr.

 

Boutros

 

formally

 

presented

 

his

 

actual

 

total

 

cash

 

compensation

 

to

 

the

 

Board

 

of

 

Trustees,

 

including

 

all

 

supplemental

 

incentives.

 

Such

 

documents

 

were

 

withheld

 

from

 

the

 

system

’

s

 

investigator,

 

John

 

McCaffrey

 

of

 

the

 

law

 

firm

 

Tucker

 

Ellis.

 

Discovery

 

has

 

also

 

confirmed

 

that

 

MetroHealth

 

books

 

and

 

records

 

showing

 

all

 

of

 

Dr.

 

Boutros

’

s

 

compensation,

 

and

 

all

 

manner

 

of

 

details

 

about

 

the

 

supplemental

 

incentives

 

received

 

by

 

him

 

and

 

other

 

senior

 

leaders,

 

were

 

at

 

all

 

times

 

available

 

to

 

members

 

of

 

the

 

Board

 

of

 

Trustees

 

and

 

that

 

Dr.

 

Boutros

 

did

 

nothing

 

to

 

prevent

 

them

 

from

 

accessing

 

them.

And

 

discovery

 

has

 

revealed

 

that

 

the

 

Board

 

of

 

Trustees

 

had

 

its

 

own

 

independent

 

compensation

 

consultant

 

who

 

was

 

contractually

 

obligated

 

to

 

“report

 

to

 

the

 

Board

 

on

 

all

 

aspects

 

of

 

Plaintiff

’

s

 

total

 

compensation,

 

including

 

his

 

“

current

 

remuneration,

”

 

his

 

“

base,”

 

and

 

his

 

“variable

 

compensation.

”

 

The

 

consultant

’

s

 

contract

 

stated

 

that

 

it

 

would

 

provide

 

the

 

Board

 

an

 

“

analysis

 

of

 

MetroHealth

 

executives

’

 

total

 

remuneration

 

package

 

with

 

recommendations

 

and

 

observations

 

Electronically

 

Filed

 

09/21/2023

 

17:47

 

/

 

MOTION

 

/

 

CV

 

22

 

972601/

 

Confirmation

 

Nbr.

 

2970676

 

/

 

CLAJB