YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Insight employees left without a job or a paycheck by the closure of two Trumbull County hospitals last week want a federal court to restore their lost pay and benefits.

David McCullough, an employee at Insight Rehabilitation Hospital Hillside, filed a class action lawsuit Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. It includes as plaintiffs employees of both Hillside in Howland and Insight Hospital and Medical Center Trumbull in Warren.

Both facilities closed March 28, and paychecks due to be paid on that day were not. The lawsuit claims Insight failed to give employees at least 60 days advance written notice as required by the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.

A WARN notice was issued March 28, but only for the Insight Hillside employees, listing 143 as the number affected. As of Wednesday morning, no WARN notice has been issued for Insight Trumbull employees.

McCullough alleges he’s owed at least three weeks of wages and says in the lawsuit that he didn’t receive accrued vacation and holiday pay, and was notified that his health insurance plan terminated March 31, despite funds being deducted from his previous paychecks. The lawsuit further alleges contributions were not made to employee 401(k)s.

The lawsuit seeks damages totaling employees’ unpaid wages, salaries, commissions, bonuses, accrued vacation and holiday pay, pensions, 401(k) contributions and retirement benefits. It also seeks pay for an additional 60 days, the time required for a WARN notice. No dollar amount is specified.

The complaint also seeks to prevent any attempt to dissolve Insight Hillside, Insight Trumbull and the Firdaus Foundation, which it claims was operating both entities.

Named in the lawsuit is the Firdaus Foundation of Flint, Mich., as well as Insight Foundation of Hillside and Insight Foundation of Trumbull. Both Insight foundations were established as nonprofits to operate the hospitals.

The complaint states that Dr. Jawad Shah, president at Insight Hillside and Insight Trumbull, also serves as the president, treasurer, secretary and director of the Firdaus Foundation, while Ali Madha, a Firdaus Foundation director, is interim COO at Insight Hillside and Insight Trumbull.

The lawsuit says the Firdaus Foundation was responsible for payroll at the facilities and the decision to order the mass layoff without issuing the WARN notice. It also contends Madha issued a letter to employees admitting he knew since at least March 21 that the company would be unable to meet payroll.

On Insight Trumbull’s website, the company claims the decisions in late March to stop all inpatient, outpatient and emergency room services were due to “abrupt developments in Steward Health Care’s bankruptcy proceedings and the mounting lack of transferred dollars owed for healthcare services delivered to patients at Trumbull and Hillside Hospitals.”

Insight further states a “plan remains in place to redesign the hospital operations fully independent of Steward.”

Last November, Insight took over operations of the two Trumbull County hospitals that were among Steward’s 31 facilities. Steward filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston on May 6, 2024.

The bankruptcy court approved the sale to Insight in October, and Steward’s bankruptcy is ongoing.

Pictured at top: Insight Rehabilitation Hospital Hillside in Howland.