By Emily Berry
Staff Writer
A Circuit Court judge has ruled against former Erlanger hospital CEO Dennis Pettigrew, denying a request for summary judgment in the former executive’s lawsuit against the hospital.
In a lawsuit filed in 2003, Mr. Pettigrew asked the court to force Erlanger to pay him a severance package as described in a resolution by the hospital’s board of trustees.
Erlanger attorneys countered that the agreement in the resolution wasn’t a binding contract, and that Mr. Pettigrew was responsible for exposing the hospital to a federal investigation. The hospital paid $40 million last year to state and federal regulators to end the investigation.
Judge Samuel Payne denied the request for summary judgment and said it appeared to him that the resolution was not a binding agreement.
Judge Payne noted that he is unlikely to preside over the remainder of the case, since he is retiring in August.
E-mail Emily Berry at eberry@timesfreepress.com
See tomorrow’s Chattanooga Times Free Press for full coverage.
