Wrongful termination lawsuit launched by former LHSC CEO to go to trial in May

A wrongful termination lawsuit brought against London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) last year by its former president and chief executive will go to trial in May.

An official with the Superior Court of Justice confirmed Monday that a trial date of May 29, 2023 had been set in the matter. A pre-trial conference will be held at the end of January.

Paul Woods launched the suit in January 2021, days after he was fired from the organization after LHSC’s board of directors confirmed he had travelled to the U.S. five times during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, between March and late December 2020.

At the time, the Canada-U.S. land border was closed to non-essential travellers — it wouldn’t fully reopen until November 2021 — and the federal government advised Canadians to avoid all non-essential travel outside the country.

Woods is seeking $1.4 million for “the bad faith termination” in the amount equal to what he would have received between in compensation, benefits and pension between January 2021 and January 2023.

He’s also seeking $1 million for loss of reputation, $1 million in punitive damages, $100,000 for breach of the province’s human rights code and coverage of his legal expenses.

In an email on Monday, Woods’ lawyer, Michael Wright, said his client “remains interested in trying to resolve the matter.”

Shortly after news of his travel emerged, LHSC board members said on Jan. 8, 2021 that Woods would stay on to “maintain stability,” and that the board was “aware Dr. Woods continued to travel for personal reasons given the separation from his immediate family” in the U.S.

On Jan. 11, however, the board did an about-face, and said it had “become clear that this situation has affected the confidence of staff, physicians and the community” in his leadership.

It added that the board “had no advance notice of and did not approve his travel outside Canada. There is no process for the Board of a public hospital to approve a chief executive officer’s personal travel.”

Woods, who holds permanent residency status in the U.S., alleged in his statement of claim that he had informed board chair Amy Walby of his proposed travel plans, and that he had her approval. Woods’ immediate family, including his spouse and daughter, lived in Michigan, the statement of claim says.

Walby resigned from the volunteer position the day Woods filed his lawsuit against LHSC. The board stressed the resignation was “not an admission of wrongdoing.”

Woods alleged that while the board did not formally approve of his travel, Walby “took it upon herself to speak for the Board about Dr. Woods’ planned travel” and that “at no time did she provide guidance to Dr. Woods, who reported to her and the board, that any other approval process was needed.”

He further alleged that the board had advanced notice of his travel, that he raised the matter with Walby and asked for guidance, and that she told him he had her support and the matter was personal.

The board, he alleged, created an impression after his travel became public that he was not forthright and candid with them.

“Dr. Woods proactively raised his potential travel to see his immediate family with the chair in June, August and October 2020 and at no time did he in any way mislead the board or attempt to conceal his activities,” the statement of claim reads.

Statements of claim and statements of defence contain allegations that have not been proven in court.

In its statement of defence, LHSC alleged that Woods only told Walby “about aspects of his travel” and that Woods had withheld important information.

LHSC added that it was only after the Jan. 11 statement, in which the board said it was not given advance notice of Woods’ travel, that it learned of Walby and Woods’ communications.

“The omission of this additional context was a good faith error made by LHSC in the context of a rapidly evolving situation. LHSC promptly clarified by releasing a further media statement on January 14,” in which the board also announced Walby’s resignation, the statement reads.

LHSC’s statement of defence alleges that senior hospital executives had raised concerns about Woods’ travel as early as March 23, and that, to the extent his reputation was harmed, it was “a result of his own poor judgment and hypocrisy.”

LHSC alleges Woods misled the board, did not tell Walby about the concerns raised by senior executives, did not ask her for guidance about a week-long holiday in Florida in October 2020, and did not inform her of his plans to travel to Michigan in late December 2020.

In November 2020, Woods issued an email to LHSC staff in which he wrote that “as health-care workers we must set ourselves to a higher standard when it comes to living and modeling public health guidelines both inside and outside of our workplace.”

Staff viewed the email as unhelpful and as a heavy-handed attack on front-line health-care workers, LHSC said, and as a result, when news emerged of his travel, “there was a pronounced negative reaction among hospital staff, physicians, and stakeholders.”

In response to human rights code claims, LHSC said Woods was not terminated “because his family circumstances required him to work from home” but because “he had lost the confidence of the staff and physicians and the community it serves in light of his own hypocrisy.”

Woods filed an amended statement of claim and a reply to LHSC in February 2011, seeking an additional $1 million in punitive damages. The reply states that Woods “admits none of the allegations contained in any of the paragraphs of the statement of defence.”

Woods’ lawyers argued that Woods did not lose the moral authority to lead LHSC, as it had claimed, and that he had received repeated assurances from Walby and other members of the executive leadership that his travel to reunite with family was acceptable.

The reply claims that when Woods travelled to Michigan in March 2020, it was for an urgent family matter, and that he was unable to notify all five executive VPs in advance, however, two of them and Walby were notified.

Upon returning, Woods apologized and pledged to be fully transparent moving forward, Woods’ lawyers say, adding that he “did not hear a single concern raised from any Executive Vice-President” after that.

LHSC broke its commitments and terminated Woods “for doing exactly what he was assured he was allowed to do, and then made false public statements about those commitments,” they allege.

Responding to LHSC’s statement about his November email to staff, Woods’ lawyers argued that there was no inconsistency between the requests “and the approach he took in his personal family life.”

Woods, they said, had a “professional and moral duty” to insist staff follow protocols given the risk of COVID-19 within the hospital, and followed distancing and quarantine protocols while crossing the border.

— with files from Sawyer Bogdan and Jacquelyn LeBel