PERRY COUNTY COURT SOGED INE HR, IN THE COUNTY COURT OF PERRY COUNTY, OHIO JEFFREY J. HAGGENJOS, D.« 1128 GREENBRIAR DRIVE CASE NO. NEW LEXINGTON, OHIO 43764 JUDGE: DEAN WILSON Plaintiff/Petitioner, vs. GENESIS HEALTHCARE SYSTEM 2951 MAPLE AVENUE ZANESVILLE, OHIO 43701 Defendant/Respondent. VERIFIED COMPLAINT (PETITION) FOR ORDER REQUIRING PRE-FILING DISCOVERY WITH ATTACHED DISCOVERY REQUESTS Plaintif/Petitioner, Jeffrey J. Haggenjos, (“Petitioner”), by and through counsel, in accordance with Rules 3, 8 and 34(D) of the Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure (see also, Ohio Revised ‘Code § 2317.48) hereby petitions this Court for an Order permitting Petitioner to obtain pre-filing discovery from Defendant/Respondent Genesis Healthcare System (“Respondent”). In support of this Petition, Petitioner submits the followit INTRODUCTION 1. This Petition centers on Respondent's termination of Petitioner’s employment with Respondent on September 1, 2015. 2. The undersigned corresponded with Respondent's attorney, Katherine Spies Giumenti, asking for the information which is the subject of this Case and received a response on Friday, May 6,2016, declining to provide the evidence Petitioner sought regarding the reasons behind Respondent's adverse employment decision. 3. Ina good faith effort to attempt to avoid costly litigation, Petitioner is filing this Petition to ‘compel Respondent to provide Petitioner with the evidence it relied on to make that adverse employment decision. PARTIES, JURISDICTION, & VENUE 4. Respondent is an Ohio corporation filed with the Ohio Secretary of State on September 20, 1996, Entity No. 953587, which operates a Medical Practice located at 401 Lincoln Park Drive, ‘New Lexington, Ohio 43764, where Petitioner was employed. ‘5. Jurisdiction is proper as both Petitioner and Respondent reside in Ohio and conduct business in Ohio. 6. Venue is proper as Petitioner was employed in Respondent's Perry County Medical Practice, and both Petitioner and Respondent engaged in conduct in Perry County that gave rise to the possible claims for relief discussed in this Petition and where Petitioner's possible claims may be filed. RULE 34(D) VERIFIED STATEMENT 7. Petitioner is a medical doctor who had entered into an Employment Contract with Respondent ‘on February 20, 2009, which was amended on December 29, 2009, July 31, 2013, and January 16, 2015, to provide medical services in Perry County, Ohio (the “Contract”). 8. Petitioner worked as a Medical Doctor in Respondent’s Medical Practice located at 401 Lincoln Park Drive, New Lexington, Ohio 43764, from on or about February 20, 2009, until September 1,2015. 9. The Contract between Petitioner and Respondent was prepared by Respondent. 10. Respondent terminated the Contract immediately, on September 1, 2015. Page 2 of 911. The Contract provided for Termination, under these terms: Termination. 6.1 Mutual Agreement. This Agreement may be terminated at any time by ‘mutual agreement of the parties hereto. 6.2 For Cause Termination by Corporation. Notwithstanding any other provision this Agreement maybe terminated by Corporation immediately upon the happening of any of the following events of termination: a. The inability or disability of Physician, through death, illness or other cause, to perform the majority of his usual duties under this Agreement by reason of accident, illness or disease for a period exceeding three (3) months; provided, that brief and intermittent interruptions of the said period of disability which are occasioned by attempts by Physician to return to work or otherwise to perform the said duties shall not, of and by themselves, prevent that period from being deemed one of continuous and uninterrupted inability to perform said duties; b. Physician fails to maintain an unrestricted license to practice medicine in the State of Ohio and all necessary Drug Enforcement Administration and other controlled substances numbers; . Physician's appointment and staff privileges at Hospital are revoked or suspended in excess of thirty (30) days, except for a temporary suspension for failure to timely process medical records; d. The occurrence of any event that would cause any of Physician's representations and warranties in Section 2 of this Agreement to be inaccurate at any time during the term of the Agreement; ¢. Physician is suspended, barred or excluded from any federal or state health care program; f. Physician fails to be available for work in accordance with Section 1 of this Agreement. Should Corporation believe that Physician has been unavailable without good cause, before terminating Physician, Corporation will notify Physician in writing that any two (2) additional failures to be available without good cause in any single year or a total of three (3) additional failures to be available without good cause over the three (3) year term, may be cause for immediate termination; g. If Physician is convicted of any offense punishable as a felony or involving ‘moral turpitude or immoral conduct. 6.3 Breach. Notwithstanding any other provision herein, a non-breaching party ‘may terminate this Agreement upon the material breach of the terms of this Page 3 of 9Agreement by the breaching party only if the breach is not corrected by the breaching party within thirty (30) days after the written notice thereof is given to it by the non-breaching party (referred to herein as a "Non-Breaching Party Termination"). This Section 6.3 is in no way intended, nor will it operate to abrogate, limit, supersede or otherwise alter Corporation's rights to immediate termination under Section 6.2. 12 Respondent terminated the Contract “immediately” on September 1, 2015. 13, Respondent terminated the Contract “Pursuant to Section 6.2.” 14, Respondent gave Petitioner no written explanation why it was terminating the Contract. 15, Respondent's Chief Physician Network Executive told Petitioner, “You are a menace to society,” “You are terminated,” and “You are a pill factory.” 16. Respondent’s Chief Executive Officer told Petitioner, “We are turning you into the State Medical Board. I'm not threatening you. Either you can go out easy, or 17. There was no Mutual Agreement between Petitioner and Respondent to terminate the Contract. 18. Respondent terminated the Contract unilaterally; there was no inability of Petitioner to perform under the Contract. 19, Petitioner did not fail to maintain an unrestricted license to practice medicine. 20, Petitioner's staff privileges were not revoked or suspended in excess of 30 days, 21. None of Petitioner's representations or warranties were inaccurate at any time. 22. Petitioner was not suspended, barred, or excluded from any federal or state health care program. 23. Petitioner was available for work. 24. Petitioner was not convicted of a felony. 25. Respondent did not have grounds to terminate the Contract. 26. Respondent has refused to disclose the basis of its employment decision to terminate the Contract. Page 4 of 927. Petitioner has a number of potential causes of action against Respondent, including but not. limited to, breach of contract, wrongful termination, defamation, violation of due process rights, and violation of other federal and state-based statutory and constitutional laws, 28. Petitioner, by and through counsel, has made all reasonable efforts to obtain the information that he seeks from Respondent, which relates to the basis of Respondent’s employment adverse employment decision, all to no avail. In this regard: (@) On April 19, 2016, Petitioner sent a letter to Respondent's counsel stating, Haggenjos respectfully requests that Genesis disclose the evidence it relied on to take the employment action against him, including the scope of any investigations Genesis conducted, and the process by which Genesis decided to terminate him, so he can evaluate his legal position. (b) On May 6, 2016, Respondent’s counsel replied, “Genesis declines your request of the evidence it relied on to take the employment action against Dr. Haggenjos.” (©) Inits April 19, 2016, Letter, Petitioner’s counsel indicated Petitioner would be filing a Discovery Action if Respondent did not provide that information. (@) Inits May 6, 2016, Letter, Respondent's counsel replied, “the ‘evidence’ you are requesting from Genesis goes well beyond the scope of a R.C. 2317.48 action.” 29. Petitioner respectfully disagrees with Respondent’s position, as a Discovery Action allows a party to know facts, so as to avoid having to face a Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim, given that the “facts” here are totally within the knowledge of Respondent. 30. Accordingly, Petitioner requires the conduct of discovery against Respondent, (a) to facilitate a full and complete pleading of potential causes of action, and (b) to remedy Respondent's refusal to voluntarily provide information that it believes to be supportive of its actions. LEGAL AUTHORITY Page 5 of 931. Ohio offers potential plaintiffs the opportunity to conduct discovery against potential defendants, in accordance with Ohio Revised Code § 2317.48 and Rule 34 of the Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure. Such discovery is available to uncover facts without the necessity of first filing suit, 32. R.C. § 2317.48 provides, in pertinent part, “When a person claiming to have a cause of action or ‘a defense to an action commenced against him, without the discovery of a fact from the adverse party, is unable to file his complaint or answer, he may bring an action for discovery, setting forth in his complaint in the action for discovery the necessity and the grounds for the action, with any interrogatories relating to the subject matter of the discovery that are necessary to procure the discovery sought...” 33, Rule 34(D) provides for the proper procedure for an action for pre-filing discovery and requires that the petitioner must establish that he/sherit first attempted to obtain voluntary cooperation from the person(s) or entity(s) from whom discovery is sought and include sufficient information to enable the court to rule on the petition. 34. An action for pre-filing discovery is to be used only to uncover facts necessary for pleading, not to gather proof to support a claim or to determine whether a cause of action exists, Baker v. Cooper Farms Cooked Meats, 2009-Ohio-3320 (Ohio Ct. App., Van Wert County July 6, 2009). 35. The action provides a “satisfactory middle course” for potential plaintiffs who require additional facts in order to sufficiently file a valid complaint, but who already have enough factual basis, for their assertions, such that the discovery process will not be tured into a fishing expedition. id. REQUEST FOR RELIEF WHEREFORE, Petitioner respectfully requests that this Petition be granted and that the Page 6 of 9Court issue an Order allowing Petition to obtain pre-filing discovery from Respondent, subject to the scope of discovery authorized by Rule 26(B) of the Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure, for Respondent to respond to the attached Interrogatories and Request for Production of Documents, Respectfully submitted: = A. Stubbins (0016326) Grant J. Stubbins (0090768) StuBBINS, WATSON & BRYAN Co. L.P.A. 59 North Fourth Street P.O. Box 488 Zanesville, OH 43702-0488 Phone: 740-452-8484 Fax: 740-455-4124 bstubbins@zanesville.law.pro Page 7 of 9VERIFICATION OF COMPLAINT STATE OF OHIO 28S: COUNTY OF PERRY 1, Jefifey J. Haggenjos, declare under penalty of perjury of the laws of the State of Ohio that I have read this Verified Complaint, and the avermepis set forth intnis\Verified Complaint are within my personal knowledge and are true and c We RY BOBLIC MicHELLE C. HAMPTON NOTARY PUBLIC. FOR THE STATE OF OHIO ‘My Commission Expires ‘June 12, 2017 Page 8 of 9PRECIPE FOR SERVICE TO THE CLERK: Please make service upon the Defendant by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the address noted above, Attention, Legal Department, including the DISC with the Discovery pursuant to Rule 33(A) of the Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure. Page 9 of 9PERRY COUNTY COURT JUDGE DEAN L. WILSON FILED MAYL3 16 19:34 IN THE COUNTY COURT OF PERRY COUNTY, OHIO. JEFFREY J. HAGGENJOS, D.0. 1128 GREENBRIAR DRIVE CASE NO. NEW LEXINGTON, OHIO 43764 JUDGE: DEAN WILSON Plaintift/Petitioner, vs. GENESIS HEALTHCARE SYSTEM 2951 MAPLE AVENUE ZANESVILLE, OHIO 43701 Defendant/Respondent. Pursuant to Ohio Civ. R. 33 and 34, Plaintiff/Petitioner Jeffrey J. Haggenjos submits the following Interrogatories and Request for Production of Documents to Defendant/Respondent Genesis HealthCare System, to be responded to by Defendant/Respondent at Stubbins, Watson & Bryan, 59 North Fourth Street, Zanesville, Ohio 43701, within 31 days of the date of service of these Requests. DEFINITIONS AND INSTRUCTIONS ‘As used herein, the following terms have the following meanings: 1, The terms “you,” “your,” “Defendant,” or “Respondent” mean Genesis HealthCare System, and its agents, attomeys, representatives, or any other persons or entities acting or purporting to act for or on his behalf. 2. The term “person” includes, without limitation, any individual, individual proprietorship, partnership, corporation, association, organization, joint venture agency, or other entity.3. The term “document” or “documents” includes all written, recorded or graphic material of any kind, including the original and all non-identical copies (whether different from the original by reason of any notation or change made on such copy or otherwise), including, without limitation, any typewritten, printed or handwritten matter, photographs, photocopies, charts, graphs, microfiche, microfilm, video, tapes, cassettes, discs, recorded or computerized ‘material, or any other recorded information of any kind whatsoever, including, but not limited to, notes, memoranda, correspondence, letters, emails, diaries, appointment books, schedules, lists, bulletins, announcements, telegrams, telefaxes, minutes, contracts, agreements, reports, studies, printouts, checks, check stubs, statements, receipts, returns, summaries, pamphlets, books, inter- office and intra-office communications, notations of any sort of conversations, telephone calls, meetings or other communications, worksheets, drafts, alterations, modifications, changes or amendments to any of the foregoing, within the knowledge, possession, custody, or control of, or subject to the control of or accessible to, Defendant and/or its attorneys, agents, representatives, or any other person acting on behalf of Defendant. 4, The conjunctions “and” and “or” shall be interpreted conjunctively to include any information otherwise within the scope of the request, and shall not be interpreted disjunctively. 5. “Relating to” means constituting, comprising, containing, setting forth, showing, disclosing, mentioning, describing, explaining, summarizing, pertaining to, concerning or referring to, directly or indirectly. 6. “Identify,” “identity,” or “identification” means when used in reference to: A) A natural person, his or her: i, Fullname;ii, Present or last-known home and business address (including street name and number, city or town, and state); iii, Present or last-known phone number; iv. Present or last-known e-mail address; and V. Present or last-known position, business affiliation and job description. B) A company, corporation, association, partnership or any legal entity other than a natural person, its: i, Fullname and type of organization or entity; ii, Address of principal place of business; and Jurisdiction and date of incorporation of organization, if known, C) An oral communication or payment act: i, The date, time and place when and where it occurred; and ii, The identity of each person to whom such communication was made, each person by whom such communication was made, and ‘each person who was present when such communication was made. 7. Asused herein, all plural terms shall include singular, and all singular terms shall include the plural.8. These requests shall be deemed continuing so as to require supplemental responses. INTERROGATORIES 1, Identify each person participating in answering and/or providing substantive information used in answering these Interrogatories and/or responding to the Request for Production of Documents. ANSWER: 2. Identify each person known or reasonably believed by you to have any knowledge of any of the facts or circumstances regarding the employment decision to terminate Petitioner, which culminated in the September 1, 2015, Letter from Respondent’s Chief Physician Network Executive, and for each such person, provide an address, telephone number, and a detailed summary of each such person’s knowledge of such facts and/or circumstances. ANSWER:VERIFICATION after being duly swom on oath, states that he/she is an authorized signatory of the , defendant in the above-entitled cause, and that he verifies the foregoing Responses to Interrogatories for and on behalf of. and is duly authorized to do so; and that the facts stated in said Responses to Interrogatories are true and correct. I declare under the penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct, 2016REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS ‘These Requests for Production of Documents include documents obtained by you and/or representatives, counsel, agents, or predecessors-in-interest from any source whatsoever. Any documents that are allegedly privileged or otherwise unavailable shall be identified in writing by indicating the following: (1) date; (2) author; (3) recipient; (4) general subject matter; (5) identity of the person or persons to whom the contents of the documents have already been revealed; (6) the identity of the person or entity now in possession or control of the document; and (7) the basis upon which itis being withheld or reason why it cannot be produced. Plaintiff reserves the right to request more information to determine whether such documents are privileged or otherwise not subject to production. Please produce the following: 1. A complete copy of any document which in any way relates to the employment decision to terminate Petitioner, as the basis for the attached September 1, 2015, Letter from Respondent's Chief Physician Network Executive. RESPONSE:ro: 27408554124 Prom: 17403423034 Date: 09/01/25 Timer 12:26 PM Page: 01/07 & ~ Genesi September 1, 2015 742 fia Certified Mail and Personal Delivery bh 459 ul Jeffrey J Haggenjos, D.O. A | s i oe Ptfe Re; Termination of Family Medicine Employment Agreement with Genesis Medical Group Dear Dr. Haggenjos, Pursuant to Section of your Employment Agreement, entered into February 20, 2009, as 2009, Jul 1, 2013, and January amended December 16, 2015 (“Agreement”), Genesis Medical Group ( is hereby terminating the Agreement effective immediately. ‘ompany In addition to this letter, you will also receive 2 Settlement Agreement via personal delivery, Please review, sign, and return 2 originals of the Settlement Agreement to me within 10 business days. Thereafter, I will promptly sign and retum a fully executed original to you for your records. Ifyou have any questions, please contact me at (740) 454-4766, Sincerely, Nn doo Nal Sloan M. Albert Chief Physician Network Executive Genesis HealthCare System