Every year, Charlesetta Woodard-Thompson said, she would donate to her Erlanger hospital colleague's foundation for Haitian children because "it was a wonderful idea."
But when the former interim chief executive officer realized Erlanger was footing the colleague's travel expenses to Haiti, she reported it to officials in March 2012.
And that's what sparked the conspiracy that ousted Woodard-Thompson from the hospital, her lawyers argued Wednesday during opening statements in Hamilton County Circuit Court.
In her $25 million lawsuit against Erlanger filed in July 2013, Woodard-Thompson, 67, said top officials unfairly passed her over for permanent CEO. In addition to being terminated while on medical leave, Woodard-Thompson alleged top officials called medicine "a white man's world" amid a hasty 2012 search process.
Erlanger called her claims "simply not true."
"Some of the facts suggest that she wanted to retire," Erlanger attorney John Bode told jurors Wednesday. "Some of the facts suggest she was bitter, that her ego was bruised when she learned she was not selected for the permanent CEO position."
On Wednesday, plaintiff's attorney Jennifer Lawrence walked the 14-person jury through Woodard-Thompson's 23-year career at Erlanger, where she served as interim CEO in 2003-2004 and 2012-2013.
Woodard-Thompson was paid "significantly less" than her predecessors as interim, Lawrence said, even though she had just as much experience and held positions such as chief operating officer and chief of human resources.
When board members asked Woodard-Thompson to become interim CEO again in late 2011 while they searched to replace Jim Brexler, she accepted.
But that time around, she wanted to be considered for permanent CEO, Lawrence said. To facilitate a smooth transition, hospital officials let Woodard-Thompson remove the word "interim" from her title whenever she signed things, Lawrence added.
"She would not have accepted this job as interim if she had any reason to believe she would not be selected for CEO," Lawrence said.
Woodard-Thompson took the stand Wednesday afternoon and detailed how things soured when she caught wind of problems in Erlanger's cardiology department in the spring of 2012.
A friendly but strict-on-compliance leader, Woodard-Thompson asked for an investigation after a group of highly recruited cardiologists resigned, she said. At the same time, she said, she dealt with sexual misconduct allegations surrounding Mitchell Mutter, the colleague who started the nutrition foundation.
"I knew that Dr. Mutter was held in high regard, and that he also had some personal relations with some of the board members," Woodard-Thompson said.
Still, she met with the board of trustees and outlined her plans to fix the department. She said one of the board members was Dr. Phyllis Miller, who had a "personal relationship" with Mutter, her lab partner from medical school.
"So, a friendship of 30 years?" Lawrence asked, prompting Erlanger attorney Bode to object.
Woodard-Thompson applied for the permanent CEO position that fall, but didn't make the finalist list.
Days later, Woodard-Thompson said, she noticed her email account had been hacked. And in December, a group of 30 to 40 physicians and members of the black community attended Erlanger's board meeting to speak in support of Woodard-Thompson after learning she had been cut from the CEO short list.
Then, in spring 2013, Woodard-Thompson could not return to her old position as chief operating officer.
Bode pointed out that Woodard-Thompson had cut the position during a job overhaul she orchestrated as interim CEO in 2012. "There's only one reason why Mrs. Woodard-Thompson's job ended in June 2013," Bode said. "It was her decision."
But Woodard-Thompson said she removed the position from the budget because she was getting paid out of the CEO pool. Amid a financial upheaval, "it didn't make sense to just leave the money sitting there in order to protect me," she said.
Woodard-Thompson was aware her interim position would end when Kevin Spiegel, Erlanger's CEO, took over April 1, 2013. She decided to go on medical leave and start physical therapy in preparation for a summer knee surgery.
All the while, Woodard-Thompson hoped to return to work on a long-term project. She had already declined a separation package because she would have had to forfeit her employee rights.
Then, in late June, she was terminated.
"I worked, on average, 14 hours a day, sometimes more. I was on call 24/7," Woodard-Thompson said. "I was there, and they knew it."
Contact Zack Peterson at zpeterson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6347. Follow @zackpeterson918.