By Hank Russell
The former president and chief executive officer of a Nassau County hospital is suing her previous place of employment, claiming they did not adhere to the terms of her contract, they paid her less than her male counterparts and made her the subject of unfounded rumors.
Counsel for former Nassau University Medical Center President and CEO Megan C. Ryan filed a lawsuit in State Supreme Court against the hospital’s parent organization Nassau Health Care Corporation. The lawsuit also names interim CEO Richard Becker, Board Chairman Stuart Rabinowitz, Board Director Jason Abelove, and Nassau Interim Finance Authority (NIFA) Chairman Richard Kessel as defendants.
The complaint, which alleges breach of contract, gender-based pay discrimination, defamation and retaliation by NHCC, seeks damages as a result of Ms. Ryan’s wrongful termination and other actions of the defendants.
“The coordinated, unrelenting campaign by NHCC leadership to defame Ms. Ryan and deny her payments she is owed under her employment contract is disgraceful,” stated Alex Hartzband, Principal for Grubin Law Group, P.C. who is a member of Ryan’s legal team.
“After the state took control of NUMC, Ms. Ryan did everything she could to ensure a smooth transition so that patient care would not suffer. Unfortunately, NHCC’s new leaders have put politics over patients, hellbent on punishing Ms. Ryan for the state malfeasance she uncovered during her tenure as CEO,” Hartzband continued. “Since June, members of NHCC leadership have leveled countless false accusations against Ms. Ryan to score cheap political points ahead of the November election. Ms. Ryan brings this suit to set the record straight and recover what she is owed.”
The complaint is in response to a $10 million lawsuit filed by NUMC against Ryan last month, alleging a sweeping pattern of misconduct, self-enrichment, and deliberate sabotage that compromised the hospital’s operations, finances, and mission to serve Nassau County residents
According to the NUMC lawsuit, while serving simultaneously as CEO, chief legal officer, and chief compliance officer, Ryan abused her authority by enriching herself and other top administrators; sought reimbursement for a phantom trip to Chicago; ordered the destruction and wiping of hospital records; coordinated a mass resignation of senior leadership to destabilize operations; and directed NUMC to pursue meritless lawsuits against the State of New York at significant taxpayer expense.
“Our goal with this complaint is to be fully transparent about what occurred and to take decisive steps toward a stronger future,” said Rabinowitz. “The taxpayers, patients, and employees who depend on this hospital deserve a clear accounting of how resources were used, and we have a duty to safeguard our mission, protect our ability to deliver care, and ensure NUMC remains a pillar for this community.”
“The coordinated resignations of 14 top administrators and the active destruction of critical hospital management data were deliberate attempts to destabilize this hospital and disrupt care for the patients who rely on us most. But the team at NUMC has not allowed that to happen,” Becker added. “Despite the legal and financial uncertainty left behind by the previous executive leadership, our clinicians, staff, and administrators have rallied together to maintain care for Nassau’s most vulnerable residents.”
But Ryan contended that Governor Kathy Hochul appointed Becker, Rabinowitz and other members of the Board of Directors in June, at which time they fired attorneys representing the hospital against the State and withdrew the Medicaid fraud lawsuits Ryan spearheaded during her time as CEO. In the first three months of its administration, according to Ryan’s lawsuit, the new NHCC Board has handed out more than $10 million in no-bid contracts and repeatedly violated the state procurement, transparency and public officers’ laws. A number of those contracts went to firms aligned with the State and County Democratic Parties.
“Our goal with this complaint is to be fully transparent about what occurred and to take decisive steps toward a stronger future,” Hartzband said. “The taxpayers, patients, and employees who depend on this hospital deserve a clear accounting of how resources were used, and we have a duty to safeguard our mission, protect our ability to deliver care, and ensure NUMC remains a pillar for this community.”
Hartzband said the complaint details how, under her contract, Ryan was wrongfully terminated, that confidential communications about accusations of malfeasance were leaked to media organizations, and that numerous claims by defendants made publicly were demonstrably false. Those defamatory claims led to numerous news articles, political advertisements and other public communications that accused Ms. Ryan of unethical and criminal behavior.
Ryan claimed that Kessel and other defendants coordinated a mass resignation of executives prior to her departure. Nearly all of the employees in question have signed a statement in support of Ryan and unequivocally denying that she had anything to do with their decisions to resign following the State’s takeover of the hospital. That letter can be found below.
The filing also notes that despite claims by the defendants that Ms. Ryan approved unlawful termination payments to departing executives, “there is no NHCC policy prohibiting PTO payouts like those Ms. Ryan authorized.” The lawsuit states that the payouts she authorized for departing employees were “consistent with long-standing practice” exercised by several of Ms. Ryan’s predecessors, including Dr. Anthony Boutin, George Tsunis and Dr. Victor Politi.
The filing makes clear Ms. Ryan had the ability and full discretion to pay departing employees for time owed to them from their service to the hospital. Her firing for alleged “cause” violates her employment contract, and NHCC’s withholding of salary payments violates the New York State Labor Law.
The complaint also makes the case that Kessel, who was worked for the local Democrat party, and others, attempted to “paint Ms. Ryan as a thief,” having made statements to local media that were “demonstrably false,” and “to further the fabricated narrative that Ms. Ryan did something unethical,” concerning the payouts.
Further, Kessel and other defendants misrepresented to the media that Ryan had supposedly submitted exorbitant expenses during her time as CEO, including a $1,400 dinner tab, at the Lobster Club in Manhattan, Ryan’s lawsuit stated. “Ms. Ryan neither incurred nor was reimbursed for any expenses related to the dinner at the Lobster Club. What is more, Ms. Ryan did not order anything to the table at this dinner — she merely stopped by to say hello to her colleagues.”
A group of former NUMC executives, physicians and staff members sent a letter to the hospital vouching for Ryan, calling her “an exceptional leader for NUMC” and “a consummate professional.” They also wrote that Ryan did not influence them to leave the hospital. “When a change in leadership became inevitable after the passage of the State budget in Albany, some of us chose to retire after many years of service to NUMC and the Nassau Community.”
The signatories said Ryan was “a victim oof vicious retaliation and a deliberate, politically motivated campaign to destroy her reputation to advanc an agenda that has little to do with healthcare.”
The complaint further outlines that NHCC engaged in gender-based pay discrimination. Notably, Ryan’s predecessor, Anthony Boutin, had more than $1 million in total compensation and Becker was given the highest base pay in the history of NUMC. Mr. Becker’s base compensation is 28% higher than Ryan’s, who concurrently served as president, CEO and chief legal officer of the corporation.
The document states that the, “…pay disparity is entirely unjustified, and can only be explained by the fact that Becker is a man and Ms. Ryan is a woman.”
The NUMC argued that the three claims Ryan filed against the hospital were deficient, time-barred, and had “no path to victory.” These suits were directly contradicted by NUMC’s own prior public disclosures, cost the hospital hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees and, even if successful, could have cut off millions in critical Medicaid supplemental payments that support staffing, services, and financial stability.
NUMC’s current leadership was appointed to stabilize and revitalize the hospital, according to NUMC. Since taking control of the hospital in early June, the new Board has moved aggressively to recruit experienced hospital administrators to stabilize hospital operations, seek financial support to ensure that NUMC patients receive the care they deserve and to restore employees’ and the public’s confidence in the hospital through open and transparent communications. This includes ongoing cooperation with the state, NIFA, and community stakeholders to ensure NUMC continues to deliver critical care to underserved communities.
Ryan, however, alleges that NHCC’s state-installed Board of Directors has failed to fulfill their legal requirements under the State’s Public Officers Law and the board is not legally constituted because “none of the current Board Directors complied” with the law’s requirements.
“Ms. Ryan looks forward to having her day in court, clearing her name, and being made whole for the harm NHCC and its leadership have caused her,” said Hartzband.
Long Island Life & Politics reached out to NHCC. A spokesperson replied, “NHCC will vigorously contest Ms. Ryan’s claims. Her assertion that she was entitled to use public funds as she pleased is baseless and contrary to law. NHCC’s governing documents and New York law do not allow the CEO to disregard written policies unilaterally. Any attempt to pay amounts beyond the caps and limits set forth in NHCC’s benefits policy requires approval by the NHCC Board of Directors. That approval did not occur here.”