Airica Steed, who became CEO of MetroHealth in December 2022 and was fired less than two years later, failed to address several performance shortcomings identified in her reviews, the health system’s board says in response to a lawsuit Steed filed against it in February.
“Plaintiff [Steed] failed to address the issues highlighted by the Board, failed to respond to the Board, and did not provide the updates to the Board as required,” the board’s response, filed Wednesday in federal court, says. “In addition, Plaintiff engaged in insubordinate conduct, exhibiting a blatant disregard for the Board’s overall authority and ignoring its responsibility for MetroHealth.”
The board’s response specifically says Steed failed to curtail her travel and public speaking engagements outside the hospital after the board told her to do so, an issue that was raised several times, including in an internal report.
The board also asserts in court papers that Steed failed to improve communication with the board or adequately address the growing financial strain on the hospital due to a number of industry pressures. The board acknowledged the hosptial’s revenue during her first year was positive but attributed that in part to the work of her predecessor.
“Despite Plaintiff’s disruptive and insubordinate behavior, MetroHealth’s
net revenue increased from $1.601 billion for the 2022 calendar year to $1.812 billion for the 2023 calendar year, a result of initiatives that, in part, began prior to Dr. Steed’s hiring,” the board’s response says.
Steed, who has a doctorate of education in leadership, still received a largely positive 2023 performance review, which was completed in March 2024. She hit goals tied to the hospital’s performance that triggered a $381,000 bonus on top of her $900,000 base salary.
A report summarizing her performance review states that Steed met or exceeded expectations in categories of “mission strategy, quality safety and experience, financial management and community and external relations.”
The report said Steed only partially met expectations related to collaboration and building relationships with physicians.
What Steed says in her lawsuit against the board
Steed alleges in her complaint that she was subjected to racial discrimination and fired by the board unlawfully while on medical leave despite positive performance reviews.
She also claims that the board retaliated against her after she raised concerns about racial discrimination within the executive ranks and about missing public records. Her complaint also says the board made public comments after her firing that harmed her reputation and leaked her travel expenses to reporters to make her look bad.
“These false and disparaging statements are in direct conflict with the actual facts about Steed’s job performance, during which time she earned 121% of her performance-based compensation in April 2024 following a commendable performance review in March 2024,” says her lawsuit, which was originally filed in Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas before being moved to federal court.
MetroHealth pushes back on specific Steed claims
About Steed’s claim that the board unlawfully fired her while on medical leave, the board suggests she took the leave to forestall her firing.
“It is apparent that Plaintiff [Steed], aware of MetroHealth’s increasing concerns with her performance issues, raised concerns in an effort to try to distract or delay attention from her performance issues and support her later allegations set forth in the Complaint,” the board says in court papers.
Steed’s complaint alleges that the hospital destroyed emails that were supposed to be preserved under Ohio’s public records law and suggests that she was fired in part because she raised the issue to the board.
The board says in court papers this is not true. An investigation “concluded that there is no evidence that any of the referenced emails or hard drives were deleted or destroyed,,” the board’s response says.
The board’s response also addressed an interview Steed did with WKYC Channel 3 (a Signal Cleveland partner newsroom) after her lawsuit was filed. In the interview, Steed said she was discriminated against and fired by a board largely made up of new trustees compared to the one that hired her.
“I can honestly tell you that…number one, the Board that hired me was completely recycled in this process,” Steed said in the television interview.
The board’s response says that a majority of board members who fired her — five of the nine — were on the board that hired her.
“Any immediate heightened scrutiny was an effort by the Board to take specific steps to strengthen policies and processes to improve organizational oversight,” the board says in its response filed Wednesday.
The board denied in court papers that it’s public comments have harmed Steed’s reputation and makes the counter claim that Steed has been defaming the hospital through her public comments since filing the lawsuit. MetroHealth’s response also asserts that Steed is in possession of hospital equipment and trade secrets.
“Dr. Steed’s continued assertion of nefarious or unethical conduct by the MetroHealth Board and MetroHealth employees is far beyond hyperbole or ordinary litigation posturing,” the board’s response says.
Signal reached out to Steed and to her lawyer and will update this story with their comments.
MetroHealth also facing lawsuit from Steed’s predecessor
Steed’s predecessor, Dr. Akram Boutros, is also suing the hospital for wrongful dismissal and defamation. Boutros was fired more than two years ago, after the board learned that Boutros had awarded himself $1.9 million in bonuses over several years. His lawsuit contends that he was entitled to the bonuses and that he followed the board’s approved compensation plan for awarding the bonus to himself and employees. Boutros’ lawsuit claims board members cost him $8 million in lost compensation and severance, $20 million in harm to future job prospects and “additional tens of millions more” in damage to his reputation.
