Based on the discharge see, the county’s inside investigators commenced analyzing Kwong’s connection with Zimmer Biomet after a grievance in 2021. But email messages received from the Periods present the issue was flagged for the county 5 years before.
The Office of Wellbeing Solutions declined to reply questions on Kwong — which includes no matter whether he was offered a severance payment or could get a pension — and would confirm only that he no more worked with the county.
Two decades afterwards, Kwong posted a photo on his Fb site of himself and his citizens before a little airplane, composing that he was on his technique to Warsaw, Ind., exactly where Zimmer Biomet is headquartered.
“To be a superior-rating health care provider at Harbor-UCLA, you're held to some higher standard and therefore are envisioned being Skilled at function and usually show suitable decorum,” she said in an eighteen-web page discharge detect.
Harbor-UCLA said it really is from county coverage to discipline an worker right up until an investigation has concluded, and that paid administrative leave is its only selection.
“Even so, beneath Louis Kwong’s chairmanship, I expert all this,” Hsu mentioned. “His abuse of this trust has actually been bafflingly tolerated by county administration, whose insufficient action perpetuates to at the present time a culture of inequality and sexism that pervades across DHS hospitals.”
Jennifer Hsu, on the list of three Medical practitioners, explained she were informed nothing about Kwong's departure Regardless of sitting for hrs in interviews with investigators.
In 2023 — a yr during which Kwong didn’t operate one working day — he was the eighth best compensated county personnel, In keeping with income documents posted this thirty day period.
The discharge detect from Gutierrez also information sixteen incidents where Kwong violated county guidelines by exhibiting inappropriate louiskwongmd perform toward Other people based on intercourse, race, gender and sexual orientation and failed to report probable fairness troubles involving workforce underneath his supervision.
“His anger, weapons and intolerance of any criticism created personnel be concerned about their protection,” the lawsuit alleges. “A person male attending said he seriously regarded as obtaining bulletproof glass put on his car and wearing a bulletproof vest to operate thanks to Kwong.”
Investigators also established that Kwong arrange a Financial institution of The us account a lot more than ten years ago to finance what Gutierrez referred to as an “special club” named the Harbor Orthopedic Analysis and Instruction Fund (OREF), which operated like a nonprofit Corporation and solicited donations ranging from $500 to $1,000.
The letter also mentioned that Kwong preferred Zimmer Biomet units over other implants “primarily based on their scientific history and performance results.”
The department claimed in a statement that it could not comment on staff issues but that Harbor-UCLA has “zero tolerance” for misconduct by workers.
Among the many complaints ended up allegations that Kwong as well as other male medical professionals within the Orthopedics Section made crude remarks about feminine medical professionals, patients and Other folks, the lawsuit states. Kwong also allegedly coated up a grievance that a health care provider was having intercourse using a affected person.