CHS wants Bauer off IU Health
Lutheran parent files for injunction to halt paid-consultant role
Having fired former Lutheran Health Network CEO Brian Bauer, Community Health Systems now wants him barred from helping a competitor get established in Fort Wayne.
In a motion filed this week, CHS is asking a judge for a temporary injunction that would prevent Bauer from "being engaged" in any way with IU Health, which plans to locate in the area. Bauer has been working as a paid consultant for IU Health since leaving Lutheran Health.
The motion, filed in the Circuit Court for Williamson County, Tennessee, says Bauer should be barred from any IU Health role because he could disclose confidential or proprietary information belonging to CHS. The motion also seeks to prevent Bauer from "soliciting Plaintiffs' employees in breach of Bauer's stock option agreement."
CHS fired Bauer in June after a failed attempt by 10 local doctors to persuade parent company CHS to sell Lutheran Health Network to an investment group approved by the doctors. CHS rejected the $2.4 billion buyout offer in May, saying it was at least $1 billion too low.
CHS, based in Franklin, Tennessee, filed a lawsuit last fall accusing Bauer of breach of contract. The lawsuit claims Bauer and up to five others using a Facebook alias defamed and disparaged CHS to undermine the company's business relationships. The defendants are accused of trying to drive away patients and physicians and drive down Lutheran Health Network's value.
Among the allegations against Bauer, CHS says he shared confidential information with IU Health in violation of CHS' stock option agreement.
Bauer has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, which is scheduled to be heard Thursday. He argues the lawsuit offers no specific instances of when Bauer defamed CHS, provides no account of what he supposedly said, and includes no evidence that it lost any money because of interference with business relationships.
Bauer's filing accuses CHS of trying to sabotage his relationship with IU Health and improperly stifle competition from IU Health in the local marketplace.
CHS' motion for a temporary injunction asks that Bauer be prohibited from "using and disclosing Plaintiff's confidential or proprietary information, including but not limited to Plaintiff's financial data and operational results, physician recruitment data, strategies and efforts, capital expenditures planning and timing, insurance and managed care contracting strategies, and information about employees and physicians in the Fort Wayne, Indiana area."
Attempts to reach Bauer for comment Friday were unsuccessful.
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