Former Erlanger CEO sues hospital for $25 million

photo Erlanger tile
photo Charlesetta Woodard-Thompson

The former interim CEO of Erlanger Health System has filed a $25 million lawsuit against the hospital, claiming that she was ousted amidst elaborate political conspiracies that involved threats against her safety, hacking her computer, and racial remarks.

Charlesetta Woodard-Thompson, who served for a year as Erlanger's CEO after former CEO Jim Brexler's departure, is suing the hospital based on claims of retaliatory discharge, invasion of privacy and conspiracy, and violation of the Tennessee Disability Discrimination act.

The suit details remarks and conversations during the hospital's CEO selection process, including the claim that several top hospital officials said that "medicine is a white man's world."

In the suit, Woodard-Thompson's attorney, Jennifer Lawrence, claims that during Woodard-Thompson's term as interim CEO, she "experienced an array of strange and alarming happenings," including several Erlanger executives advising her to become proficient in shooting a gun and to have a security guard escort her to and from her car upon her arrival and departure from the hospital.

She claims certain Board of Trustees members and employees with the University of Tennessee College of Medicine conspired to have her removed from her CEO position "for multiple reasons, including their desire to obtain control of Erlanger Health System's dollars by UTCOM Board members."

For more information, read Thursday's Times Free Press.

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