The attorney for former WellStar CEO Dr. Greg Simone said in a Friday letter that certain health system executives have fabricated events and taken others out of context in an effort to smear Simone and divert attention from their own actions.

On April 1, WellStar attorney Sharon Morgan of Elarbee, Thompson, Sapp & Wilson sent Simone a four-page letter detailing why WellStar’s Board of Trustees fired him on Sept. 2.

Simone’s attorney, Ben Mathis, responded in a six-page letter dated Friday, warning her that she, as well as those who instigated the April 1 letter, have subjected themselves to a possible lawsuit.

In his letter to Morgan, a copy of which was obtained by the Journal, Mathis accuses her of engaging in “a high-tech character assassination” against Simone and Bonnie Wilson, who was also fired last year from her position as executive vice president and general counsel for WellStar.

Morgan’s letter attacking Simone and Wilson, Mathis said, was written only for the media, and is nothing more than “a disingenuous attempt to string together unrelated events and combine them with false statements and half-truths to paint Dr. Simone and Ms. Wilson in an entirely false light.”

Responding to Mathis, WellStar spokeswomen Michelle Robinson said: “Clearly, Greg Simone is a very disgruntled former employee who is attempting to rewrite history. It is unfortunate that he continues to disparage an organization that he claims to hold in such high regard and its hardworking leadership team and volunteer Trustees. The April 1st letter to him accurately set out the basis for his termination. His continued selfish attacks again demonstrate that the WellStar Board of Trustees made the right decision, based on the facts, and it stands by that decision. Thus, we have moved on.”

In her April 1 letter to Simone, Morgan attempts to portray that Simone had a “special relationship” with Wilson, one where they sent each other coded messages and dined alone together, citing two instances, one at a Buckhead restaurant and one at a Marietta restaurant.

But Mathis said Morgan carefully omits in her letter who else was present at the Buckhead restaurant on the night in question. Also present were Interim CEO Jim Budzinski and other WellStar employees, he said.

“There was no attempt to ‘hide’ this business dinner,” Mathis writes. “It is inconceivable that you would characterize a dinner attended by Jim Budzinski as a business function, but a dinner attended by the CEO as a ‘late night private dinner for two,’ even though two WellStar teams had the same dinner in the same restaurant for the same purpose at the same time.”

The other example Morgan cites in her letter was a dinner Simone and Wilson had last summer at a restaurant near the Marietta Conference Center, which Mathis said immediately followed a senior staff meeting there.

“It was not ‘out of the way’ as you falsely imply, but at a family place frequented by people who knew Dr. Simone and by WellStar employees. It is ludicrous to suggest that they would have eaten there to avoid being observed,” Mathis wrote.

Mathis goes on to write that after the MDJ published Morgan’s letter in last Saturday’s newspaper, a WellStar employee who was present at the Mexican restaurant the night in question told him she was appalled that Morgan characterized the event as somehow improper.

“She also was appalled that no one in senior leadership at WellStar ever asked her to describe what actually occurred. Apparently, they relied entirely on a hearsay version because no one really wanted to know what actually happened,” Mathis said.

“Moreover … it is unbelievable that a professional woman like yourself could claim that two business dinners between senior executives somehow show ‘a special relationship,’” Mathis wrote.

Another tactic Morgan used in her letter to paint the picture of a special relationship was describing how Simone referred to Wilson as a “neutron girl,” because just as a neutron holds together an atom, so too did Wilson help to hold together WellStar.

“This is typical of your out-of-context smear,” Mathis said. “It is difficult to believe that you really think that it is wrong that the CEO thought the general counsel, perhaps the most important executive position in a medical organization where every issue has a legal implication, was in his view, at times, the proverbial ‘glue’ that held together the organization. Again, as a professional woman, you know that, if the general counsel were male, this allegation would never have been made.”

Likewise, the allegation that Wilson had veto power over decisions at WellStar is absurd, Mathis said. If that were the case, why isn’t there a record of the Board of Trustees interceding or issuing some type of warning, he asked.

Then there is the matter of Simone texting or “pinning” messages to Wilson. Mathis said it is well known that Simone regularly communicated by text, email, and pin with a number of employees.

In an effort to “‘catch up’ with the newfangled way of shorthand communication,” Simone had printed out a list of commonly used text abbreviations and used them as a humorous way to show he had “caught up,” Mathis wrote.

The truth is Simone and Wilson never socialized outside of WellStar, unlike Jim Budzinski and WellStar HR director David Anderson, who went on mountain vacations together, went on fishing trips together, and who attend Fox Theatre plays together, Mathis noted.

“Dr. Simone’s and Ms. Wilson’s interaction, on the other hand, was purely business. Again, if a fair or independent review of the situation had been conducted, there would be a record of what all of the senior staff and others with actual knowledge really thought. Apparently, the individuals behind Dr. Simone’s termination were not interested in such a review because it would have impeded their objective of highjacking WellStar for their benefit and that of their friends. If you had undertaken such an effort, as I believe a good counselor should have advised the Board to have done, then those really behind this decision would be accountable for the veracity of these claims,” his letter states.

Mathis said he wants to be clear that his references to WellStar are not directed at the hundreds of employees who helped build the organization into a world-class integrated health care system.

“As is now becoming clear, however, a small group of officers and certain Trustees truly have undertaken a plan to wrest control of WellStar and dismantle the most effective executive team in its history,” he said. “Interestingly, none of these individuals are a physician, and none have ever before operated a health care system, much less one the size of WellStar. They appear to be motivated to stop the reforms instituted by Dr. Simone that they apparently found threatening to them and their friends.”

On March 21, just months after the terminations of Simone and Wilson, Budzinski and Anderson fired Dr. Richard Lopes, president of the WellStar Medical Group, which is in charge of the system’s 350 physicians, and Ron Strachan, former WellStar senior vice president and chief information officer. Moreover, on March 29, WellStar announced that Susan Thompson, WellStar’s assistant vice president of government and community affairs, had resigned immediately.

Mathis said it is significant that Morgan avoids mentioning in her letter the “undeniable truth” that WellStar had no cause for any of these terminations.

“These terminations collectively will result in approximately $5 million dollars of severance,” he wrote. “If there was justifiable cause for any of these terminations, as WellStar now tries to falsely suggest there was with the terminations of Dr. Simone and Ms. Wilson, WellStar would have exercised its contractual right to deny severance. As is so often the case in life, money speaks louder than words. Here, $5 million dollars says WellStar’s claims are false and they had no justification for any of its actions.”

Mathis said the truth is Simone’s termination came at an abruptly called and rushed, late-night meeting.

“The Trustee Board acted primarily at the behest of two Trustees and with the aiding and abetting of two WellStar executives who had much to gain with Dr. Simone’s departure. The true ‘special relationship’ at WellStar is between these two executives and two Trustees. It is this ‘special relationship’ that is behind the dismantling of the most successful executive team in the history of WellStar.”

Mathis earlier stated that the actions of the following people needed to be scrutinized: Budzinski; Anderson; Trustee Chairman Randall Bentley of the Marietta law firm Bentley, Bentley and Bentley, who has served on the board since 2005; and Trustee Tom Phillips, owner of Phillips Oil Company in Jasper, was has served on the board since 1999.

“For purposes of self-preservation by certain WellStar officials, you launched this attack only because the community and the media are questioning the direction of WellStar and the conduct of certain officials and Trustees. Your letter is nothing more than a back-peddling attempt to recast the reasons for the Trustees’ decision and deflect attention from legitimate questions regarding the actions of current interim management and certain Trustees,” Mathis wrote.

Simone was never repeatedly warned by the Board of Trustees as falsely claimed in Morgan’s letter, Mathis said. Indeed he had just received a highly favorable performance review immediately before his sudden termination.

“This performance review, approved by the Trustee Board, triggered substantial performance incentives that increased Dr. Simone’s compensation. If there had been such warnings or if there had been ‘concerns’ about Dr. Simone’s conduct, wouldn’t they have been reflected in his performance review?” Mathis asked.

Mathis said he also found it noteworthy that Morgan sent out her letter just as media outlets and others submitted numerous Open Records Act requests about the conduct of certain WellStar Trustees and officials.

“These requests focus on issues such as possible Medicare billing and compensation irregularities, benefits that Trustee members have voted to provide themselves, possible conflicts of interest in business relationships between Trustees and WellStar, and an influential Trustee’s son-in-law employed in the billing reimbursement department at WellStar,” Mathis wrote. “As reported in this week’s media, apparently the Medicare reimbursement issues involve close friends of certain Trustees and demand public accountability. These Open Records Act inquiries were filed a few days before you launched your preemptive media attack.”

Attorney Mathis’ response to WellStar claims about Dr. Simone

Dear Ms. Morgan:

I am writing in response to your letter of April 1 to Dr. Simone that you sent for publication to various media outlets. Initially, please excuse the length of this letter. As I’m sure you counted on, it takes longer to explain the truth than to commit a high-tech character assassination.

I was disappointed that you and your law firm would personally attack Dr. Gregory Simone and Ms. Bonnie Wilson. Your letter was written only for the media. Your letter is a disingenuous attempt to string together unrelated events and combine them with false statements and half-truths to paint Dr. Simone and Ms. Wilson in an entirely false light. Your letter is a fictional narrative that bears no truth to the actual proper and professional relationship between Dr. Simone and Ms. Wilson. Both you and those who instigated your letter have subjected yourselves to civil action.

Before addressing the allegations in. your letter, I want to emphasize that my references to “WellStar” are not directed at the many hundreds of people who have helped build the organization into a world-class integrated health care system. As is now becoming clear, however, a small group of officers and certain Trustees truly have undertaken a plan to wrest control of WellStar and dismantle the most effective executive team in its history. Interestingly, none of these individuals are a physician, and none have ever before operated a health care system, much less one the size of WellStar. They appear to be motivated to stop the reforms instituted by Dr. Simone that they apparently found threatening to them and their friends.

Indeed, it is no secret that WellStar officials have felt the intense media scrutiny over their firing four senior executives, along with an unexplained resignation last week of a fifth executive.

In reviewing your letter, it is important to first look not just at what you say, but at the facts that you carefully avoid addressing. Significantly, your letter carefully avoids conceding the undeniable truth that WellStar had no cause for any of these terminations. These terminations collectively will result in approximately 5 million dollars of severance. If there was justifiable cause for any of these terminations, as WellStar now tries to falsely suggest there was with the terminations of Dr. Simone and Ms. Wilson, WellStar would have exercised its contractual right to deny severance.

As is so often the case in life, money speaks louder than words. Here, 5 million dollars says WellStar’s claims are false and they had no justification for any of its actions.

Through your letter, you created the fiction that Dr. Simone’s termination occurred not because of false allegations that he had a romantic relationship, but because he had a “special relationship.” Notably, on the night Dr. Simone was fired, it was never alleged that there was such a “special relationship.” At no time that night or since, until your letter, has anyone accused Dr. Simone of having a “special relationship” with Ms. Wilson. The issue that night was whether he was involved in a romantic relationship with her. That allegation was a lie. In fact, WellStar now admits in your letter by omission that there never was such a relationship.

This newfound claim of a “special relationship” was invented by you in your letter in a clumsy attempt to recast the real reason for the termination. You have authored a fictional narrative that Dr. Simone’s termination occurred after some fair or thoughtful investigation and formal wamings. The truth, as you know, since you were there on the night of the termination, is quite different. Dr. Simone’s termination came at an abruptly called and rushed, late-night meeting. The Trustee Board acted primarily at the behest of two Trustees and with the aiding and abetting of two WellStar executives who had much to gain with Dr. Simone’s departure. The true “special relationship” at WellStar is between these two executives and two Trustees. It is this “special relationship” that is behind the dismantling of the most successful executive team in the history of WellStar.

The termination of Dr. Simone was made in a hasty proceeding that was not conducive to a reasoned decision and was not a process that any reasonable governing board should have engaged in. The full Board and those fair-minded Trustees were not given the full story that night and have still not been given the full story to this day. There was no independent review of the allegation. There was no attempt to interview and document testimony from the many executives who worked with both Dr. Simone and Ms. Wilson to see how they viewed their interaction. There was no time for reflection by Trustees to make a carefully considered determination. There was no meaningful opportunity for Dr. Simone to address this malicious and false allegation of an affair. Dr. Simone was summoned into the closed door meeting with no prior warning and asked a very few questions that he truthfully answered, in which he denied any romantic relationship. As you well know, this was the allegation that was made the night that Dr. Simone was terminated. WellStar now has completely abandoned the very reason for his termination.

Significantly, WellStar cannot deny that, prior to the night of his termination, the Trustee Board never once discussed at any meeting any of the “concerns” that you have concocted after the fact to try to use to justify Dr. Simone’s termination. The idea that this decision was the culmination of some sort of orderly counseling or investigative process is flat-out false. Instead, your letter suggests the Trustee Board acted based on a mythical “special relationship,” when that was not the reason for its actions.

For purposes of self-preservation by certain WellStar officials, you launched this attack only because the community and the media are questioning the direction of WellStar and the conduct of certain officials and Trustees. Your letter is nothing more than a back-peddling attempt to recast the reasons for the Trustees’ decision and deflect attention from legitimate questions regarding the actions of current interim management and certain Trustees.

Let me address your other allegations and remind you of the real truth, which your letter so studiously ignores. First, not only was Dr. Simone never repeatedly “warned” by the Board of Trustees as falsely claimed in your letter, but you ignore that Dr. Simone had just received a highly favorable performance review immediately before his sudden termination, This performance review, approved by the Trustee Board, triggered substantial performance incentives that increased Dr. Simone’s compensation. If there had been such warnings or if there had been “concerns” about Dr. Simone’s conduct, wouldn’t they have been reflected in his performance review?

Regarding the ridiculous allegation of sexual harassment in your letter, Ms. Wilson has categorically denied that she ever claimed that Dr. Simone harassed her or acted inappropriately. She expressly communicated tlus to Human Resource Officer David Anderson when she heard that this bogus allegation was being used against Dr. Simone. Also, she stated this in writing. Why don’t you produce her contemporaneous written denial that she never made such an allegation?

Your letter primarily contends that there was an inappropriate relationship. That allegation is completely contrived, false, and malicious. To support this groundless claim, you contend that two business dinners are evidence of wrongful conduct. However, your letter carefully omits that the first dinner was more than two years ago, at a popular Buckhead restaurant and that Jim Budzinski and other WellStar employees were present that night. There was no attempt to “hide” this business dinner. It is inconceivable that you would characterize a dinner attended by Jim Budzinski as a business function, but a dinner attended by the CEO as a “late night private dinner for two,” even though two WellStar teams had the same dinner in the same restaurant for the same purpose at the same time.

The second “dinner” cited was an early evening meal last summer at a casual restaurant near the Marietta Conference Center immediately following a senior staff meeting there. It was not “out of the way” as you falsely imply, but at a family place frequented by people who knew Dr. Simone and by WellStar employees. It is ludicrous to suggest that they would have eaten there to avoid being observed.

You also may be interested to know that, after your letter was published, I received a call from the WellStar employee who was present at the Mexican restaurant. She was appalled at your characterization. She also was appalled that no one in senior leadership at WellStar ever asked her to describe what actually occurred. Apparently, they relied entirely on a hearsay version because no one really wanted to know what actually happened. She emphasized that she never “reported” the dinner and merely mentioned in passing at work to a colleague that she had talked with Dr. Simone and Ms. Wilson at the restaurant. She could not believe that someone then trumped up this innocent encounter to be something it was not. If you had cared to have conducted a fair review and interviewed her, she would have told you that she observed only that Dr. Simone and Ms. Wilson were eating a brief early evening dinner in full view, sitting in the middle of the restaurant. She would have told you that she approached Dr. Simone to say hello, and that neither he nor Ms. Wilson acted in any way like they were uncomfortable or trying to hide anything. They all chatted for several minutes. She could not believe that your letter painted this simple meal following a senior staff meeting in the light that you did.

Moreover, when you look at the “dinner meetings” over the course of two years, it is unbelievable that a professional woman like yourself could claim that two business dinners between senior executives somehow show “a special relationship.”

Your letter also makes much of the fact that Dr. Simone at some time called Ms. Wilson a “neutron girl” because this long-term senior level employee had helped to hold WellStar together. This is typical of your out-of-context smear. It is difficult to believe that you really think that it is wrong that the CEO thought the General Counsel, perhaps the most important executive position in a medical organization where every issue has a legal implication, was in his view, at times, the proverbial “glue” that held together the organization. Again, as a professional woman, you know that, if the General Counsel were male, this allegation would never have been made.

Likewise, the allegation that Ms. Wilson had “veto power” over decisions at WellStar is so absurd as to be comical. If this really had been the case, there would certainly be some record of the Trustee Board interceding or issuing some type of warning to either Dr. Simone or Ms. Wilson. Of course, there is no record of any concem because no such concem was ever expressed. Again, this is another invention by you of an issue that never was.

Your letter also is filled with vague innuendo and suggestions that “others” witnessed “one-on-one meetings.” Dr. Simone had “one-on-one meetings” with each of the executives reporting to him on a regular basis. Additionally, Dr. Simone and Ms. Wilson never socialized outside of WellStar, unlike Jim Budzinski and David Anderson, who went on mountain vacations together, went on fishing trips together, and who attend Fox Theatre plays together. Dr. Simone’s and Ms. Wilson’s interaction, on the other hand, was purely business. Again, if a fair or independent review of the situation had been conducted, there would be a record of what all of the senior staff and others with actual knowledge really thought. Apparently, the individuals behind Dr. Simone’s termination were not interested in such a review because it would have impeded their objective of highjacking WellStar for their benefit and that of their friends. If you had undertaken such an effort, as I believe a good counselor should have advised the Board to have done, then those really behind this decision would be accountable for the veracity of these claims.

Your letter next contends Dr. Simone and Ms. Wilson “pinned” or “texted” each other on occasion. You invent a claim that they “went offline,” when that never happened. As you know, Dr. Simone regularly communicated by text, email, and pin with a number of employees. There was nothing unusual about it. Communication by these methods is universal among all of us. Executives communicate at all hours and sometimes by email, sometimes by text or pin.

Your letter further cites that Dr. Simone supposedly used a code of some kind. Again, the real truth is far different. Another senior employee at WellStar commonly used abbreviations in texts or emails to Dr. Simone. In a humorous attempt to “catch up” with the newfangled way of shorthand communication, Dr. Simone printed a list of commonly used text abbreviations off the intemet. At some point, he gave a copy to this employee and Ms. Wilson and others. He then used the abbreviations on rare occasions as bit of inside humor to show that he had “caught up.”

Your letter now maliciously takes these innocent instances completely out of context.

Those who truly know Dr. Simone know he is one of the most decent, honest, proper, thoughtful, and caring people to ever walk the face of this planet. You have attempted to slander him (and Ms. Wilson) because he used, on a few occasions, these abbreviations that do not in any way convey the kind of relationship you suggest. In retrospect, I guess Dr. Simone has now learned how malicious, petty, and dishonest some people can be when they are not interested in the real truth and are trying to hide their motives.

Significantly, although you take these isolated references out of context, what your letter doesn’t admit is that, despite poring over every single communication between the two over several years, you found absolutely nothing — nothing — in the text of any communications that suggested that there was a “special relationship.” Again, this term was never before used by WellStar and was invented by you solely to denigrate Dr. Simone and Ms. Wilson.

What you have done is both outrageous and sad in light of the true facts. Why was this letter sent? It is very noteworthy that your letter came as media outlets and others submitted numerous Open Records Act requests about the conduct of certain WellStar Trustees and officials.

These requests focus on issues such as possible Medicare billing and compensation irregularities, benefits that Trustee members have voted to provide themselves, possible conflicts of interest in business relationships between Trustees and WellStar, and an influential Trustee’s son-in-law employed in the billing reimbursement department at WellStar. As reported in this week’s media, apparently the Medicare reimbursement issues involve close friends of certain Trustees and demand public accountability. These Open Records Act inquiries were filed a few days before you launched your preemptive media attack.

In the final analysis, your letter suggests that certain Trustees and interim executives at WellStar seem to fear the tidal wave of scrutiny coming their way over their governance and operations. So, you initiated this assault on Dr. Simone and Ms. Wilson to divert the attention these officials deserve. I hope and trust those with oversight authority of WellStar start to ask the hard questions and don’t accept your false claims at face value. The independent members of the Hospital Boards of Cobb, Paulding, and Douglas need to assert their oversight roles and also should be able to appoint to the WellStar Trustee Board their own representatives.

To this end, I would urge you to counsel your client that they are not some private corporation that is immune to answering to the people they serve. WellStar is a public institution. It is the people’s hospital for the community it serves. This is a community you do not live or work in, I might add.

WellStar exists only because of public funds and taxpayer-backed bonds of the Cobb, Paulding, and Douglas Hospital Authorities. The Trustees and interim leadership of WellStar should strive to live up to the obligations they owe the citizens of our community and not attempt to trash those asking appropriate questions.

I would urge you to counsel your client to govern itself accordingly.

Freeman Mathis & Gary, LLP

Benton J. Mathis Jr.