A retired local doctor has filed a lawsuit against Russell County Hospital.
According to a lawsuit filed in Russell Circuit Court on Tuesday, retired doctor John Kilgallin filed the suit against Russell County Hospital and CEO Scott Thompson.
In the lawsuit, Kilgallin alleges that the hospital and Thompson breached a contract he had in place with the hospital and publicized “false and defamatory” statements that adversely affected his reputation and resulted in lost income and “great emotional distress”.
According to the lawsuit, Kilgallin reached an employment agreement on a two-year contract with the former CEO in January 2022. In May, according to the lawsuit, Thompson informed Kilgallin that the hospital was going in a different direction and the hospital was “through with him” while he could finish his emergency room shifts.
The following day, according to the lawsuit, Thompson reportedly sent an email to department heads stating that Kilgallin was no longer employed with the hospital, and Thompson reportedly told Kilgallin that he would not be working his final shifts.
The lawsuit states that Thompson’s conduct in causing a breach of the contract had no legal justification, and further states that the hospital, by and through its agents and Thompson, “defamed and placed [Kilgallin] in a false light by making false accusations and defamatory accusations that he was discharged for reasons that reflect on [Kilgallin’s] fitness as a physician and further accusing him of committing assault.”
Kilgallin is being represented by Thomas E. Carroll of. Carroll & Turner, PSC in Monticello.
