An editorial in Saturday's Sun Sentinel alleges the board of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Broward Health may have violated the Sunshine Law in its firing of interim CEO Pauline Grant.
"From the moment you stepped foot in the Broward Health boardroom on Thursday, you knew something was up," the editorial begins. A lawyer hired by the health system's general counsel said there was probable cause Ms. Grant violated the Anti-kickback statute, and the board voted 4-1 to dismiss her, according to the report.
The Sun Sentinel took issue with the fact there was little to no discussion of Ms. Grant's alleged wrongdoings. "We got the sense they already knew," the Sun Sentinel editorial board wrote, about the details of the case against Ms. Grant.
The newspaper alleges board members made knowing comments before voting and the one member who voted against the dismissal of Ms. Grant, Maureen Canada, said General Counsel Lynn Barrett tried to get her on the phone multiple times before the meeting. When asked for more details on the decision, another board member, Christopher Ure, directed the Sun Sentinel to the general counsel, according to the report.
The editorial suggests General Counsel Barrett acted as a conduit by individually contacting members ahead of the meeting. Based on past court rulings, this could be a violation of the Sunshine Law, according to the editorial. The Sunshine Law requires Broward Health's board meetings to be open to the public, and prohibits members and other conduits from discussing board matters outside of these meetings. The Sun Sentinel has contacted Broward State Attorney Mike Satz to investigate.
Read the full editorial here.
Editor's note: Becker's has reached out to Broward Health for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
More articles on leadership and management:
Trump names Cleveland Clinic CEO Dr. Toby Cosgrove to panel of business advisers
Tech executive joins Theranos board amid governance restructuring
Andy Slavitt: 4 considerations for the next administration