A former AdventHealth surgeon who was awarded $2.85 million in a whistleblower lawsuit in 2018 had the suit overturned by an appeals court, according to a Nov. 12 report by the Orlando Sentinel.
Ahmad Chaudhry, MD, filed the lawsuit in 2014 alleging he was wrongfully fired after raising concerns about alleged unsafe practices by the then-director of the heart and lung transplant institute, according to a March 9, 2018, report from the Orlando Sentinel.
Altamonte Springs, Fla.-based AdventHealth denied the allegations, saying Dr. Chaudhry wasn't a good fit on the transplant team and had failed his board certification exam a third time, the report said.
The 5th District Court of Appeals said the jury made its decision using a "motivating factor" standard instead of using a "but for" standard, the report said. This means the jury deemed Dr. Chaudhry's complaints were a motivating factor in his firing but not necessarily the sole cause. The jury was instructed to find that he wouldn't have been fired if he hadn't complained.
The case is set for a new trial, the report said.
Read the Nov. 12 report here.
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