Making good on a threat to take legal action, Akram Boutros said his termination was improper. The board said Boutros was ousted for paying himself $1.9 million in bonuses without board approval.
Former MetroHealth CEO Akram Boutros vowed to pursue legal action after the system’s board fired him, and he wasted little time in backing up those words.
Boutros is suing MetroHealth, saying the Cleveland-based system acted improperly in terminating him Nov. 22. Boutros, who was slated to step down at the end of the year, said the board’s firing was retaliatory and that the board violated Ohio state law in hiring his successor, Airica Steed. He said in the suit that the “illegal firing” gives him claims against MetroHealth and its board.
In that court filing in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, Boutros said he plans to file a separate lawsuit “to recover damages from this retaliation and other misconduct.”
MetroHealth said the board fired Boutros because he paid himself more than $1.9 million in bonuses from 2017 through 2021 without notifying the board or seeking board approval. Only the board can set compensation for the system’s chief executive, Vanessa Whiting, chairwoman of MetroHealth’s board of trustees, said in a statement.
MetroHealth’s board demanded repayment of the bonuses. On Oct. 31, Boutros repaid $2.1 million, which represented the supplemental bonus money, and more than $124,000 in interest, the system said.
Details on the suit
In the lawsuit, the former...
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