Steward Well being Care CEO Ralph de la Torre filed a lawsuit Monday towards a U.S. Senate committee that pursued contempt fees towards him for failing to look earlier than the panel regardless of being issued a subpoena.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court docket in Washington, named practically all members of the Well being, Schooling, Labor and Pensions Committee, together with Sen. Bernie Sanders, who chairs the committee which has investigated Steward’s chapter.
The lawsuit claims that the lawmakers are unlawfully violating de la Torre’s constitutional rights.
It alleges that the members of the committee, by attempting to compel de la Torre to reply questions about Steward’s chapter, are “collectively undertaking a concerted effort to punish Dr. de la Torre for invoking his Fifth Amendment right not to ‘be compelled . . . to be a witness against himself.’”
De la Torre is asking the court docket to declare that every one actions associated to enforcement of the subpoena are invalid and unconstitutional — together with the vote of the committee on Sept. 19 approving the prison contempt decision and its resolution to current the decision to the total Senate for a vote.
The Senate accredited the decision final week.
“No one can be compelled to testify when they exercise this right under these circumstances. Nor does the Constitution permit Congress to punish and intimidate him, or any other American, for exercising these rights,” William “Bill” Burck, a lawyer for de la Torre, mentioned in an announcement.
Anna Bahr, communications director for Sanders, dismissed the lawsuit.
“Democrats and Republicans on the HELP Committee came together and unanimously voted to hold Dr. de la Torre in contempt of Congress, as did the entire U.S. Senate,” she mentioned in an announcement. “This case has no merit.”
The lawsuit comes a day earlier than de la Torre is about to step down as CEO of Steward.
De la Torre has overseen Steward’s community of some 30 hospitals across the nation. The Texas-based firm’s troubled latest historical past has drawn scrutiny from elected officers in New England, the place a few of its hospitals are positioned.
A spokesperson for de la Torre mentioned Saturday that he “has amicably separated from Steward on mutually agreeable terms” and “will continue to be a tireless advocate for the improvement of reimbursement rates for the underprivileged patient population.”
Sanders mentioned earlier this month that Congress “will hold Dr. de la Torre accountable for his greed and for the damage he has caused to hospitals and patients throughout America.”
Steward has shut down pediatric wards in Massachusetts and Louisiana, closed neonatal models in Florida and Texas, and eradicated maternity providers at a hospital in Florida.
Democratic Sen. Edward Markey of Massachusetts mentioned that over the previous decade, Steward, led by de la Torre, and its company enablers, “looted hospitals across the country for profit, and got rich through their greedy schemes.”
Alexander Merton, an legal professional for de la Torre, has mentioned the fault as a substitute lies with “the systemic failures in Massachusetts’ health care system” and that the committee was attempting to border de la Torre as a prison scapegoat. Merton has additionally mentioned that de la Torre would conform to testify at a later date.
On Friday, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey introduced her administration had formally seized a hospital by eminent area to assist preserve it open and transition to a brand new proprietor. St. Elizabeth Medical Middle in Boston was considered one of a gaggle run by Steward. Operations might be transferred to Boston Medical Middle.
Two different Steward-operated hospitals in Massachusetts have been pressured to shut after certified consumers couldn’t be discovered in the course of the chapter course of.
