Cardinal Innovations Healthcare has filed a lawsuit against ousted CEO Richard Topping to recoup more than $1.6 million in severance pay. The suit says Topping failed to meet conditions of his severance agreement and violated fiduciary obligations to the Charlotte-based behavioral healthcare organization.
The suit also says he deleted text messages, emails and call logs from his Cardinal issued phone. That violated a litigation hold letter from the state health department.
In November, Cardinal’s board fired Topping after multiple audits detailed excessive executive pay, severance packages and lavish board retreats. In late November, the state took over the organization, but not before Cardinal’s board paid Topping a severance package totaling nearly $1.7 million. In January, the state returned the company to a new board of directors.