The fired CEO of cash-strapped Grady Memorial Hospital said the facility owes him $2 million in severance pay.

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AJC

Otis Story

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A lawyer for Otis Story, who was earning $600,000 a year, said he is negotiating with Grady.

The issue may focus on whether Story was fired for good reason and whether the Grady board members provided him with written notice and a chance to defend himself. His attorney said they didn't.

If he was fired for cause, he gets no severance, but a hearing process is required.

When Story was fired two weeks ago, after less than a year in the job, Grady board chairwoman Pam Stephenson did not cite any failure on his part. The board, she said, wanted a change in administration.

Grady board member Geoffrey Heard, however, said at the time, "The position needed strengthening."

Grady advocates pointed to a breakdown in the relationship between Story and the board members, including their reversal of his decision to close an outpatient dialysis clinic.

Story's attorney, Lee Parks of Atlanta, said the board did not provide Story with written notice or an opportunity to defend himself, as is required in his contract. The contract allows the board to fire the CEO without cause, Parks said, but the board must consequently pay him three times his base salary of $600,000, along with benefits that bring the total to $2 million.

Story declined comment, but Parks said Story believes he did a good job and that the hospital, despite its hard financial times, should live up to its contract.

The Grady board has replaced Story temporarily with Stephenson, its chairwoman, a move that has created controversy, since it places her as hospital CEO as well as head of the board that oversees the Grady system. Stephenson is also a state legislator.

Stephenson could not be reached for comment.

A statement issued by the Grady legal affairs department said negotiations with Story continue. "For that reason, we do not respond to any statement or alleged statement concerning the tender of or his receipt and acceptance of a letter of termination," it said.