Dive Brief:
- Mercy Health's president and CEO, Michael Connelly, has filed a lawsuit against Service Employees International Union No. 1199, claiming invasion of privacy and defamation.
- Connelly says the union is offending "public sensibilities" and attempting to ruin his reputation.
- The union reportedly drove a van around Connelly's neighborhood that displayed his picture, personal phone number, the words "GREED! GREED! GREED!" and the statement: "Mercy Health CEO Michael Connelly is getting rich off the sick, disabled and indigent!" The union also placed a radio ad saying that Connelly wanted to take away workers' sick time, which he disputes.
Dive Insight:
The ugliness follows labor negotiations between Mercy Health (previously Catholic Health Partners) and the union workers, whose contracts expired Feb. 1 at Mercy McAuley Center, Mercy Memorial Hospital and Springfield Regional Medical Center, reports USA Today.
However, Connelly says the attacks are personal and not a labor dispute, in his suit against the union and union president Becky Williams.
The court documents state, "Defendants acted with malice in the way they structured and published their radio ad and the mobile billboard by accusing Connelly of disregarding the medical needs of Mercy Health's most vulnerable and sympathetic patients in a way to excite and offend public sensibilities to achieve maximum destruction of Connelly's personal and professional reputation."
The union did not comment on the lawsuit.