Scotland County Hospital’s board chair was ‘less than creditable’ in testimony that she was responding to a financial crisis that could have closed the hospital.
BY: RUDI KELLER
Missouri Independent
A judge on Friday found a northeast Missouri hospital board guilty of “gross violations” of the Sunshine Law and voided all the actions taken during illegal closed meetings in August 2022.
Circuit Judge Rick Roberts also ruled that Scotland County Hospital must also pay a civil fine of $5,000 and attorneys fees to its former CEO, Dr. Randy Tobler.
Tobler sued the hospital in March 2023, alleging he had been slandered, the target of a conspiracy to remove him and that the board vote to fire him was done at a meeting that violated the Sunshine Law. The slander and conspiracy counts were dismissed from his lawsuit and a trial was held in September on the Sunshine Law violations.
While Tobler’s attorney, Lowell Pearson, didn’t explicitly ask for attorney fees during the trial, Roberts wrote that he would award them.
“Refusing to award attorney fees for the time spent in obtaining the judgment would thwart the purpose of the Sunshine Law,” Roberts wrote.
In an interview, Pearson said the ruling was everything Tobler asked for.
“This is a total victory for Dr. Tobler and complete vindication for him that the actions of the hospital were unlawful,” Pearson said.
The decision is gratifying, Tobler said.
“I appreciate Judge Roberts issuing a thoughtful, careful and thorough decision,” he said. “It provides vindication for me and establishes accountability for the hospital’s illegal, knowing and purposeful violation of Missouri Sunshine Law.”
Tobler said he is examining with Pearson whether to refile the defamation count in the case.
The area’s residents, he said, “deserve hospital leadership that can be trusted in providing the essential healthcare needs of the community.”
In a statement sent Sunday, hospital CEO Megan Weber said the hospital is disappointed with the ruling.
“The board continues to still feel strongly that the hospital did not knowingly or purposefully violate the Sunshine Law, and are examining our options with regards to any appeal,” Weber said.
The case focused on two meetings held Aug. 15 and 16, 2022. The first was held at the home of Lori Fulk, board chair, with only four of the board’s six members present. Fulk did not post a public notice of the meeting, the two board absent members were not notified and Tobler was not given any notice, Roberts found.
Holding the meeting at Fulks house violated the hospital district bylaws, Roberts wrote. Failing to inform all board members or the public violated the Sunshine Law.
At the meeting, the board members present voted to fire Tobler and chief financial officer Michael Brandon.
During the trial, Roberts wrote, Fulk testified that the hospital was “facing an immediate financial collapse so immediate that she felt the hospital only had days if not hours before it closed.”
Scotland County Hospital serves 12,300 people in five counties. It is located in Memphis, a town of about 1,700 people. The hospital was losing money, but had $8.2 million in cash on hand at the beginning of 2022, an audit shows. The morning of Aug. 16, rumors started spreading in Memphis that Tobler had embezzled money from the hospital.
Tobler, an obstetrician and gynecologist, had been CEO of the hospital since 2014. The vote to fire him disrupted an orderly transition because he had already submitted his resignation effective Sept. 3, 2022.
If Fulk was truthful when she said the hospital had a severe financial crisis, the logical step would be to have the entire board meet with the CEO and the chief financial officer, Roberts wrote.
But Fulk was “less than creditable” in her testimony, Roberts wrote.
“The selection of the members to attend clearly demonstrates that the purpose of this meeting was not the alleged financial crisis but was to focus on how to remove certain officers from the organization,” he wrote.
All board members were present for the Aug. 16 closed meeting, which was held at the hospital on short notice to the members and no notice to the public.
“Whatever her agenda was in August 2022 she knew she wanted to limit the persons informed of and who could participate in the meetings of August 15 and 16, 2022, and the only way to get what she wanted was by a gross violation of the Sunshine Law, which is exactly what she did,” Roberts wrote.
The language Roberts used is some of the strongest he has seen about a witness, Pearson said.
“It’s unusual for a judge to make a credibility finding that is that stark,” he said. “That’s a pretty unusually explicit way for the court to say that he found a witness to not be credible.”
The decision will not result in Tobler’s reinstatement as CEO, Weber said Sunday. The board voted to fire him at its Aug. 30, 2022 meeting that met the requirements of the Sunshine Law, she said.
Brandon has not sued over his firing and his status after Roberts’ decision is unclear.
Another case stemming from the same time is also pending before Roberts. Terri Schmitt, who was the human resources officer of the hospital, was fired Aug. 17, 2022, by Weber, named CEO at the Aug. 16 meeting.
Schmitt, who was 59 at the time of her firing, is suing for age discrimination and violation of her employment contract, which required 90 days notice of termination. The case is expected to go to trial sometime next year.