Brack v. Budish
| Decision Date | 21 April 2022 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 1:19-CV-01436 |
| Citation | 599 F.Supp.3d 607 |
| Parties | Gary BRACK, Plaintiff, v. Armond BUDISH, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Ohio |
Ashlie Case Sletvold, Peiffer Wolf Carr Kane & Conway, Brian D. Bardwell, Speech Law, Cleveland, OH, Caryn M. Groedel, Law Office of Caryn M. Groedel, Solon, OH, for Plaintiff.
Since 2018, more than twelve detainees have died at the Cuyahoga County jail, numerous others have suffered serious injury, conditions remain deplorable, and significant litigation continues in State and federal court to determine the legal consequences and responsibility, if any, relating to maladministration at the jail. Public discourse places the moral and political blame for this situation at the feet of Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish and his administration. But there is plenty of blame to go around.
For example, before its more recent efforts to improve healthcare at the jail, MetroHealth and its leadership team headed by chief executive officer Dr. Akram Boutros took actions at the behest of Budish and his administration that allowed the regionalization efforts at the heart of the jail's troubles to proceed. When Gary Brack, a nurse who worked at the jail for MetroHealth, warned the Public Safety Committee of the Cuyahoga County Council at a public hearing on May 22, 2018 of the Budish administration's actions that jeopardized detainees at the jail, Budish personally requested that Dr. Boutros remove Mr. Brack from his work at the jail.
Although he knew better, Dr. Boutros complied. This failure of leadership contributed to the controversy that continues to surround the jail and deserves condemnation.
In this case, Plaintiff Gary Brack filed suit against Akram Boutros, MD, Jane Platten, and The MetroHealth System, among others, seeking damages for his removal from the jail. Eventually, Plaintiff settled his claims for a payment from the County and dismissed his claims against the remaining Defendants. That outcome resulted in a situation where no party to this case received a determination about the legal consequences, if any, for Mr. Brack's removal.
Given that disposition, Akram Boutros, MD, Jane Platten, and The MetroHealth System seek the vindication they did not receive in the underlying litigation by moving for sanctions pursuant to the Court's inherent authority and 28 U.S.C. § 1927 against Subodh Chandra and his law firm, who represented Mr. Brack. (ECF No. 78.) Initially, Movants sought sanctions against Mr. Chandra's former law partner, Ashlie Case Sletvold, as well, but they later withdrew the motion as to her. (ECF No. 86.) For the reasons that follow, the Court DENIES the motion.
In their motion, Movants focus in particular on two allegations Mr. Chandra advanced in the underlying litigation against them, each of which they contend is false. First, Movants argue that Mr. Chandra pursued claims on the theory that Mr. Brack spoke as a private citizen to a committee of the County Council on May 22, 2018. Second, he also claimed that Ms. Platten prohibited Mr. Brack from speaking or criticizing the County at that meeting. (Id. ) Understanding these central claims in support of the motion requires some broader background and context, beginning with Plaintiff's allegations in the underlying case.
By way of background, and to oversimplify somewhat, at the relevant times relating to the facts at issue in the lawsuit, Cuyahoga County had a contract with MetroHealth to provide medical care and services at its jail and pretrial-detention facilities. (See generally ECF No. 78-8.)
A. The First Amended Complaint
On May 21, 2019, Plaintiff filed suit in State court. (ECF No. 1-1, PageID #6.) Ms. Sletvold signed and filed the complaint. The complaint asserted claims against Armond Budish, the County Executive; Ken Mills, formerly the director of the Cuyahoga County jail; MetroHealth; Dr. Boutros; and Ms. Platten. (ECF No. 1-1, PageID #7.) Defendants removed the case to federal court. (ECF No. 1.) Specifically, counsel for Movants from the law firm of Zashin & Rich effected the removal. (Id. , PageID #3.) Plaintiff filed an amended complaint on February 26, 2020. (ECF No. 30.) Again, Ms. Sletvold signed and filed the amended complaint. (Id. , PageID #215.) In the amended complaint, Plaintiff added Earl Leiken, Budish's chief of staff, as a Defendant and named Dr. Boutros and Ms. Platten as Defendants in their official and personal capacities. (ECF No. 30, ¶¶ 27 & 28, PageID #186.)
The amended complaint makes the following allegations.
A.1. Run-Up to May 22, 2018
In 2015, MetroHealth hired Plaintiff Gary Brack, a registered nurse and medical-services administrator with 20 years’ experience, to manage its nursing operations for Cuyahoga County. (Id. , ¶¶ 34, 35, PageID #187.) In 2017, MetroHealth promoted Mr. Brack to interim director of ambulatory care for the Cuyahoga County jail. (Id. , ¶ 35.) In this capacity, Mr. Brack had responsibility for managing nursing services at the jail and all that entailed. (Id. , ¶ 36.)
Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish and his administration developed a regionalization plan for Cuyahoga County's jails to increase revenue for the County by charging local governments to house their detainees and prisoners. See Moderwell v. Cuyahoga Cnty. , 997 F.3d 653, 656 (6th Cir. 2021). In March 2018, the Budish administration executed the regionalization plan, which aggravated severe overcrowding and understaffing. Id. at 656–57.
On April 18, 2018, the amended complaint alleges that the County's budget director warned Budish; his chief of staff, Earl Leiken; and the County's fiscal director by email of "a critical situation in the County Jail regarding nurses." (ECF No. 30, ¶ 5, PageID #182.) Specifically, she alerted them that (Id. ) Leiken responded to the email by thanking the budget director for the "heads up." (Id. )
According to the amended complaint, by May 2018 "healthcare at the County jail was in a state of crisis." (Id. , ¶ 57, PageID #192.) Allegedly, Ken Mills, the County's Director of Corrections, blocked the hiring of nurses until the staffing situation reached a critical point. (Id. ) Mills made a "mission-critical request" of County Council for additional nurse staffing. (Id. ) This request prompted the Council's Public Safety Committee to hold a hearing to inquire of Mills and MetroHealth how matters had reached this point. (Id. )
MetroHealth designated its medical director, Dr. Thomas Tallman, to speak for the hospital. (Id. , ¶ 58.) Because he could not attend due to a conflict, Dr. Tallman worked with Mr. Brack to prepare testimony for the Council's Public Safety Committee. (Id. ) The night before the hearing, the two men sent an outline of planned remarks to Jane Platten, MetroHealth's chief of staff. (Id. ) According to the amended complaint, Ms. Platten instructed Mr. Brack not to criticize the County in his remarks and not to speak without her advance permission. (Id. , ¶ 59.)
A.2. The Hearing on May 22, 2018
On May 22, 2018, the Public Safety Committee held a public hearing, which the amended complaint describes as follows. Mills allegedly denied involvement in issues relating to the hiring of nurses and blamed staffing shortages on fiscal problems. (Id. , ¶ 63, PageID #192–93.) When the Chair of the Committee asked why the staffing issues at the jail had arisen, Mills allegedly demurred. (Id. , ¶ 65, PageID #193.) Not accepting this response, the Chair pressed the point and said, "If you're not willing to answer that's fine because I'll find out." (Id. , ¶ 66.) Noting Dr. Tallman's absence, the Chair wanted to hear from someone with direct knowledge. (Id. )
According to the amended complaint, the Chair then directly asked Mr. Brack about staffing issues. (Id. , ¶ 67, PageID #194.) Mr. Brack responded that Mills had obstructed hiring and that working relationships were not good. (Id. ) In response to follow-up questions from the Chair, Mr. Brack acknowledged that financial issues were important, but not the entirety of the problem. (Id. ) Another member of County Council asked Mr. Brack to address relations with Mills on operations and security. (Id. , ¶ 70.) In response, Mr. Brack characterized Mills’ role as "problematic" and explained that Mills "exercised improper authority over medical services that compromised health and safety at the jail." (Id. , ¶ 71.) In doing so, Mr. Brack provided his "personal opinion" about Mr. Mills’ "level of disrespect" for the sheriff, who had contractual responsibility for MetroHealth's provision of medical services at the jail. (Id. ; see also id. , ¶¶ 13 & 67.)
Allegedly, Ms. Platten repeatedly interjected in these proceedings to minimize the role of Mr. Mills. (Id. , ¶ 69.) Further, the amended complaint alleges that the chief of staff took on the role of speaking for MetroHealth at the hearing and that she had assigned Mr. Brack a secondary role to help with questions relating to issues touching on technical operations at the jail. (Id. , ¶¶ 59 & 60.)
A.3. Events Following the Hearing on May 22, 2018
On the day after the hearing, County Executive Budish and his chief of staff drove to MetroHealth for an in-person meeting about Mr. Brack, according to the amended complaint. (Id. , ¶ 72, PageID #195.) There, they met with Dr. Boutros and Ms. Platten and demanded Mr. Brack's termination. (Id. ) In an email on May 25, 2018 to Budish, copying Leiken and others, the amended complaint avers that Dr. Boutros wrote: "As per your request for MetroHealth to...
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