Hospital argued former CEO failed to satisfy notice element because he did not indicate to the Board that he would report possible violations to outside agency.
The federal district court in Kansas has denied a summary judgment motion brought by Norton County Hospital, rejecting the hospital’s arguments that its former CEO, Brian Kirk, failed to establish genuine material fact issues on his claim that he was terminated in retaliation for reporting to the Board that the hospital may have violated the Stark Law by paying doctors above market value for their services. The hospital contended that Kirk lacked sufficient evidence to support two elements of his whistleblower claim for retaliation in violation of the False Claims Act (FCA), 31 U.S.C. § 3729, that (1) the hospital was on notice he had engaged in protected activity, and (2) a causal link exists between his termination and the protected activity. The court held that evidence of Kirk providing the Board with information about the possible Stark Law violations sufficed, and he did not have to inform the Board of his intent to report the hospital to outside authorities to satisfy that element of his claim. The causation element was supported by evidence of the temporal proximity between when Kirk gave his notice to the Board and the adverse employment actions taken against him (Kirk v. Norton County Hospital, No. 24-2405-KHV (D. Kan. Jan. 7, 2026)).
Background. Norton is a rural county hospital, governed by its Board...
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