Civil Rights Attorney Ben Crump To Represent Former MetroHealth CEO In Discrimination Lawsuit

Steed claims she was fired by the board of MetroHealth while she took a medical leave of absence.

Renowned civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump has joined the legal defense team representing former MetroHealth CEO Dr. Airica Steed in her discrimination lawsuit against her former company. Steed filed the lawsuit shortly after being fired by the healthcare company in August.

According to WKYC, the Sherman Boseman Legal Group and its leader, F. Allen Boseman, Jr., had already agreed to represent Steed, and Crump represents an additional resource at Steed’s disposal.

Steed was fired by the board of MetroHealth while she took a medical leave of absence, they said their decision was based on fundamental disagreements over Steed’s priorities and the standards they required of a CEO.

According to Steed’s representation, including Crump, she found out she was fired via the media after Steed “commenced a comprehensive investigation into deeply troubling ethical issues raised by several employees and after she submitted an internal complaint for gender and race discrimination.”

Steed’s representation continued, “Dr. Steed exemplifies the very best in leadership, having not only met but exceeded the rigorous expectations set for her in a year filled with challenges. Her dismissal raises serious concerns about the standards to which Black women leaders are held in comparison to their counterparts and highlights a pattern of behavior at MetroHealth that deserves intense scrutiny that will be examined closely by our combined legal teams.”

According to Signal Cleveland, the removal of Steed is the second time in as many years that MetroHealth has had a CEO resign or be removed from their post. Steed was hired in 2022 and was supposed to succeed Dr. Akram Boutros, upon his retirement, but her timeline was accelerated after Boutros was fired in November 2022 for allegedly giving himself $2 million in improper bonuses.

According to a statement released by MetroHealth Board of Trustees E. Henry Walker M.D., “It has become clear that the Board and Dr. Steed fundamentally disagree about the priorities and performance standards needed from our CEO for MetroHealth to fulfill its mission. We believe Dr. Steed’s performance is not meeting the needs of MetroHealth. As a result, we have lost confidence in her ability to lead the organization going forward and believe it would not be in the best interest of the System for her to continue in her position. Therefore, we are exercising our right to terminate her at-will contract.”

Crump and his team disputed MetroHealth’s characterization of Steed’s firing in their own statement provided as part of a press release.

“Steed’s dismissal raises serious concerns about the standards to which Black women leaders are held in comparison to their counterparts and highlights a pattern of behavior at MetroHealth that deserves intense scrutiny that will be examined closely by our combined legal teams,” Crump said in the press release.

According to Signal Cleveland and WKYC, the last performance review for Steed at MetroHealth issued in March 2024 gave no indication that the company was displeased with her work, in their review she either met or exceeded expectations as it relates to “mission strategy, financial management, quality safety and experience, and community and external relations.”

Steed did, however, partially meet expectations for “collaboration and building relationships with physicians,”and was below expectations for “effective leadership of the management team” and “relationship with the board and chair.”

As Signal Cleveland reported, Steed’s comments on her review indicated she believed she needed more time to build rapport with the health system.

“Overall, I strongly believe that the relationship with the collective board has been favorable, however, there has not been adequate time in this first year given so many roadblocks and barriers on building a strong and trusting rapport, which I am confident will develop with time.”

Steed continued, “I have not felt fully empowered to make management decisions that falls within the purview of the CEO, including necessary changes to the Executive Leadership team structure that impedes and effective Board/CEO relationship while also functioning in a perpetual state of ‘walking on eggshells’ and feeling ‘guilty until proven innocent’.”

She also described intimidation and character assassination pointed in her direction from her predecessor.

“I also want to put on the record that while I have had to endure some pretty challenging circumstances, including social media harassment/bullying/intimidation/character assassination by my predecessor, in no uncertain terms have I ever disparaged or represented the Board of Trustees in a negative light and I have zero control over baseless and unsubstantiated gossip. I have been on record of praising the Board of Trustees and will continue to do so in the manner in which I represent MetroHealth.”

The Cleveland branch of the NAACP also weighed in on the treatment of Steed, referring to the firing of Steed as a “public corporate lynching” in a statement.

“We, the members of the NAACP, express our deepest concern for the public corporate lynching of Dr. Airica Steed, who has been an invaluable leader at MetroHealth Hospital. Over the course of her short tenure, Dr. Steed’s exemplary leadership has demonstrated a commitment to excellence, and a vision that has greatly benefited the Northeast, OH region.”

The statement continued, “We believe the decision to terminate Dr. Steed does not reflect the true value of her contributions to the community. The public approach the Board of Trustees took is disgraceful and unacceptable. The fact that Dr. Steed came to Cleveland to restore prominence to MetroHealth after their public scandal, only to be terminated without cause while on FMLA. is an indictment on MetroHealth.”