The suit names MetroHealth and current or former board of trustees members Vanessa Whitling, J.B. Silvers, Inajo Davis Chappell, John Corlett, Maureen Dee, John Hairston Jr., Robert Hurwitz, John Moss and Dr. E. Harry Walker.
Boutros is seeking compensatory and punitive damages.
Boutros, who joined MetroHealth in 2013, was ousted by the public health system’s board of trustees in November 2022 after an investigation by Tucker Ellis LLP concluded he paid himself $1.9 million in unauthorized bonuses. Boutros has denied any wrongdoing.
Last week, the state auditor’s office released a report on the findings of its criminal investigation and special audit of the allegations. The office concluded that Boutros’ actions were not criminal, and it was not able to determine whether he had proper authorization to receive supplemental performance-based variable compensation (SPBVC), according to the report.
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Boutros filed his first lawsuit against MetroHealth in November 2022, shortly after he was fired by the board of trustees. He filed another lawsuit the following month, claiming defamation of character, wrongful termination and breach of contract. He voluntarily dismissed the latter in December 2023, citing health issues. A judge dismissed Boutros’ lawsuit claiming the board of trustees had violated Ohio’s opening meetings laws in October 2024.
“Over Dr. Boutros’s tenure of nearly a decade, he led the transformation of MetroHealth from a troubled county hospital into a multibillion-dollar enterprise,” said Jason Bristol of Cohen Rosenthal & Kramer LLP, in a news release issued after the Nov. 19 filing.
“Rather than celebrating his accomplishments, the MetroHealth Board orchestrated his discharge just weeks before expiration of his contract based on a disagreement over the System’s compensation policies.”
Bristol, in a statement, urged Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne and Cuyahoga County Council to “move swiftly to correct the lawlessness at MetroHealth” and to “urge the current leadership to remedy the inequitable treatment that destroyed Dr. Boutros’s reputation, career and health.”
A spokesperson for MetroHealth declined to comment.
“MetroHealth does not comment on litigation, nor will it engage in negotiations through the news media,” the spokesperson wrote in an email. “We will file our response with the court at the appropriate time.”
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Following the release of the state auditor’s report last week, the MetroHealth Board of Trustees issued a statement saying that while the auditor’s office did not find Boutros’ actions to be criminal, the report clarified that Boutros did not share the development and management of the SPBVC program directly with the board. This made “it clear that the Board acted properly in terminating Dr. Boutros for cause and recouping millions of dollars in unauthorized bonus payments,” the board said.
The auditor’s report says the purpose of the office’s investigation was to help the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office determine whether criminal actions had been committed, not to decide whether Boutros or the MetroHealth board had been correct in their interpretation of Boutros’ eligibility in the bonus program.
Boutros and his attorneys said the auditor’s findings cleared him of wrongdoing and showed that MetroHealth’s board did not effectively oversee his compensation.
An attorney for Boutros declined to provide further comment on the lawsuit.
This story first appeared in Crain's Cleveland Business.
