A former employee at a Springfield mental health and addiction clinic is suing the owners for more than $4 million, according to documents filed in federal court.
Psychiatrist Dr. Daniel Williams filed a complaint for a civil case against Eustasis Psychiatric and Addiction Health co-owners Dr. Alok Jain and Alisha Breanna Jain and Honour Brite LLC, Eustasis's parent company.
Williams has filed the complaint pro se, meaning he is representing himself. Williams has a psychiatry certification from the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and has licenses to practice in Arkansas , Missouri and Texas . According to each medical board's site, Williams has no disciplinary actions listed against him.
Williams had not yet responded to a request for comment at the time this story was published.
Joshua Roberts of Roberts & Easley LLC in Springfield is representing the Jains and Honour Brite LLC.
"My clients cannot comment on any matter of pending litigation other than to emphatically deny the allegations in the pro se complaint," Roberts said in an emailed statement. "They look forward to disproving the false allegations in a court of law."
Williams, who is still listed on Eustasis's website as the medical director for the office at 1501 E. Bradford Parkway, alleges that the Jains terminated his employment after he reported "a long-standing health insurance fraud scheme to authorities," in which he said he was pressured to participate. He also claims that the couple violated the Fair Labor Standards act by requiring him to work 40% more time per week than the 40 hours specified in the employment contract.
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According to his complaint, Williams began working at Eustasis in April 2023 and was terminated Aug. 12, 2024. During his time with the clinic, the complaint says, Alok Jain instructed employees to create documentation falsely stating a patient came to the clinic in person for assessments related to ADHD.
Williams also alleges that from December 2023 to February 2024, Millennium Health Laboratories operating at Eustasis has run unnecessary and unauthorized testing on an unknown number of patients. He states in the complaint that Honour Brite LLC was aware of this situation and yet failed to notify patients or insurance companies.
In 2015, Millennium Health Laboratories agreed to pay $256 million for violating the False Claims Act. The United States Department of Justice said Millennium billed providers for "medically unnecessary urine drug and genetic testing."
During his employment with Eustasis, Williams claims that he worked 40% more time per week than he was contracted for, that the company failed to provide health insurance for the first five months of employment, that there were no trained human resources staff available and that he was "inappropriately charged vacation days" when he was working. In the complaint, Williams also claims that the Jains allowed a former psychotherapist to continue working at Eustasis despite making threats and creating a hostile work environment. The employee, Kyle Watson, was later arrested for terroristic threats and stalking, according to a report by KY3.
What is Eustasis?
Alok Jain and Alisha Breanna Jain established Eustasis Psychiatric and Addiction Health in 2018, according to the website , "after they saw an unmet need for patients in the community who were experiencing unnecessarily long wait times and poor access to psychiatric services."
The clinics offer therapy, psychiatry care, treatment for substance abuse and ADHD testing. Eustasis has four locations: Three in Missouri and one in Rogers, Arkansas. Their Springfield, Ozark and Rogers locations allow for appointments as well as walk-in clients.
Susan Szuch reports on health and food for the Springfield News-Leader. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @szuchsm. Story idea? Email her at sszuch@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Former employee alleges Springfield clinic committed insurance fraud, violated labor laws
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