Community Hospital for the Monterey Peninsula and its parent company, Montage Health, may file for a new trial after losing a $9.475 million wrongful termination case, Monterey County Weekly reported Oct. 26.
The lawsuit was filed in November 2021 by Jared Stiver, a former supervisor of the Monterey, Calif.-based hospital, who had recently been fired. Mr. Stiver alleged administrators retaliated against employees who reported concerns about patient care, billing practices and other violations; those who complained might be "assigned unsafe working conditions, harassed and punished in other ways," according to a June report from Monterey County Weekly.
Mr. Stiver alleged the hospital violated patient care regulations and wrongfully terminated him for whistleblowing. CHMP and Montage Health executives testifed that Mr. Stiver would have been fired anyway for being a "bully" and "toxic," per the newspaper.
The jury voted unanimously in Mr. Stiver's favor, agreeing that Montage Health executives acted against Mr. Stiver "with malice, oppression or fraud." In May, the defendants were ordered to pay $4.95 million for lost compensation and $5 million for punitive damages. The sum was lowered to $9.475 million in July; the hospital is responsible for $475,000 for emotional distress, while Montage is responsible for $4 million in lost wages and $5 million in punitive damages.
After the trial, Monterey County Superior Court Judge Vanessa Vallarta ruled that the defendants violated a California health and safety code that prohibits hospitals and health systems from retaliating against healthcare workers for complaining about unsafe patient care — so the sum must be paid regardless of whether a new trial is won.
But the system is weighing a second trial on the grounds that Mr. Stiver was only employed by the hospital, not by Montage Health, Kevin Causey, vice president of CHMP, told Becker's in an Oct. 26 statement.
"Montage Health and Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula are considering all options, including appealing the Court's ruling on the motions," Mr. Causey said. "We believe that there were errors made in the trial that will be addressed on appeal, including the fact that Montage Health never employed Mr. Stiver and could not have been liable for any of the alleged conduct. We will continue to vigorously pursue all avenues available to overturn what they consider to be an erroneous jury verdict."