Tenet Healthcare CEO Dr. Saum Sutaria and other executives will be questioned as part of a retaliation suit filed by two former employees.
Magistrate Judge Curtis Ivy Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan said Wednesday that Sutaria, former Detroit Medical Center CEO Dr. Audrey Gregory and current Detroit Medical CEO Brittany Lavis can be questioned for up to two hours during depositions about their knowledge of alleged safety violations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Related: Tenet plans to invest in specialty care
The lawsuit, filed in June 2022, alleges Tenet fired housekeeping employees Denise Bonds and Shenesia Rhodes after they complained about an unsafe environment that was due to cost-cutting measures.
The employees, who worked at Harper-Hutzel Hospital in Detroit, allege they were denied adequate cleaning supplies and protective masks — in addition to witnessing surgeries in unsanitary operating rooms — and eventually were fired for raising concerns about the violations.
Legal representatives filed a motion in September in support of a protective order to keep the executives out of depositions, which Ivy denied.
Wednesday's decision contrasts with the apex doctrine, a legal tactic often used to protect top executives from a deposition. The executives' legal representatives failed to clearly show the harm that the CEOs would suffer if made to sit for a deposition, Ivy said in the ruling.
The depositions must be completed by Nov. 22, according to court documents.
