Nassau University Medical Center\u2019s parent company is suing seven former high-level employees, part of an effort to claw back about $1 million in what it says are “improper” payouts.<\/p>\n
The hospital is targeting seven employees \u2014 including Michael Sposato, now Nassau County\u2019s commissioner of corrections<\/a> \u2014 all of whom resigned from the hospital in May and reaped hundreds of thousands of dollars in termination payments, according to the complaints.<\/p>\n Other former employees, meanwhile, have settled or returned money to the hospital, a spokesman said Monday.<\/p>\n “NUMC is sending a clear message: We will not stand for taxpayer dollars being abused, and we will use every tool available \u2014 legal and otherwise \u2014 to hold people accountable,” Tommy Meara, a hospital spokesman, said in a statement.<\/p>\n The seven employees facing lawsuits include\u00a0Simonsarkis Ulubabov, director of patient care services;\u00a0Sposato, vice president of security; Sasy Salomon, chief information officer;\u00a0Vincent Pinkney, executive vice president of labor relations;\u00a0Michael Knee, director of pharmacy;\u00a0Kim Edwards-Johnson, deputy chief nursing officer;\u00a0and Patrick Degree, executive vice president of facilities and director of bureau of building services. (Some court records use different titles for the same employee.)<\/p>\n All seven resigned in May and received between about $26,000 and $106,000 in improper payouts, the suits allege. According to the nearly identical complaints, the hospital asked each former staffer to return the funds, but all “refused to do so.”<\/p>\n Earlier this month,\u00a0Andrew Garbarino, an attorney representing all seven defendants, filed motions asking a judge to dismiss the lawsuits.\u00a0The suits were “a transparent attempt to recast lawful, fully-authorized employment decisions as misconduct,” the motions read.<\/p>\n Garbarino said in a brief phone interview Monday\u00a0that his clients “committed no wrongdoing of any kind.” Garbarino is not related to U.S. Rep. Andrew Garbarino, a Bayport Republican.<\/p>\n Nassau University Medical Center, a public safety net hospital, has spent years on unstable financial footing<\/a>. The hospital has reported regular annual losses in the millions of dollars, and as of last year was carrying $1.4 billion in debt.<\/p>\n The cases stem from a period of upheaval last year following the state\u2019s takeover of the hospital\u2019s board of trustees. Last spring, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation<\/a> that\u00a0gave the governor and Democrats, rather than the Nassau County executive, power to appoint the majority of the hospital\u2019s board of trustees and its chair. Hochul said the move was needed to put the hospital on firmer financial ground.<\/p>\n Following the legislation, the governor tapped six people, including former Hofstra University President Stu Rabinowitz<\/a>, to lead the board.<\/p>\n That shake-up led to an exodus of many of the hospital\u2019s top employees, including CEO Megan Ryan, chief medical officer Grace Ting, chief financial officer Perry Sham, and 11 others, according to court records.<\/p>\n Former Nassau University Medical Center CEO Megan Ryan in 2019. Credit: Kendall Rodriguez<\/p>\n In August,\u00a0the hospital filed a $10 million lawsuit<\/a> against Ryan, the former CEO, alleging she had mismanaged the hospital, destroyed documents,\u00a0and signed off on $1 million in improper payouts to staff.<\/p>\n Ryan denied the allegations and\u00a0the next month\u00a0filed her own suit<\/a> against the hospital, accusing its new leaders of defamation, retaliation and gender discrimination.<\/p>\n Both cases are ongoing.<\/p>\n The seven lawsuits against Ryan\u2019s former deputies, all filed on the same day in November, appear to be the latest in the flurry of litigation between the hospital’s new and old leadership in the wake of the state takeover.<\/p>\n