Defense attorney Tom Melsheimer called the lawsuit a "shakedown." (Fish & Richardson)
A prominent group of Dallas-area surgeons has defeated claims that it fired an employee for refusing to commit fraud.
Dallas County jurors ruled this week for Texas Vascular Associates and several affiliated doctors. The defendants successfully argued that billing coder Cortez Mills was fired for insubordination and abusive language.
“In Texas, we call this kind of lawsuit a shakedown,” said a written statement from defense lawyer Tom Melsheimer, a former federal prosecutor. “Ms. Mills was trying to intimidate our client with bogus claims, a self-aggrandizing media blitz, and the threat of bad publicity.”
Mills was fired in 2012 and filed suit later that year, represented by the law office of former federal judge Joe Kendall. Matthew Scott, one of that firm’s attorneys, said Thursday that he couldn’t show jurors a polygraph test backing Mills’ billing-fraud allegations.
“It was her word against four doctors who had a lot to lose,” Scott said.
In court filings, Texas Vascular said Mills had a criminal history that should have prevented her from being hired. She served probation for aggravated assault and credit card abuse, records show.
Follow @BrooksEgerton and @DMNInvestigates on Twitter. Like the DMN Investigates page on Facebook.