GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Michael Faas, chief executive officer of Metro Health, is accused of "a pattern of illegal and unethical conduct" in a lawsuit that questions his actions regarding the proposed sale of Metro to an out-of-state for-profit company.

Laura Sacha-Staskiewicz, former director of Metro's foundation, filed a whistleblower lawsuit Monday, March 30, in Kent County Circuit Court against Faas, Metropolitan Health Corp. and Metropolitan Hospital.

Staskiewicz alleges she was fired in January after raising concerns about plans to dissolve Metro's charitable foundation before the sale is approved with Tennessee-based Community Health Systems. She alleges the goal was to divert $50 million in proceeds from the sale to Metro-CHS, rather than to the hospital's charitable foundation.

Metro Health had not responded by mid-afternoon to a request for comment about the lawsuit.

At the center of the lawsuit is the proposed sale involving Metro Health, a nonprofit, 208-bed hospital in Wyoming, to CHS, a national for-profit company with 209 hospitals. After months of discussions, CHS said Jan. 23 it plans to acquire 80 percent of Metro. The sale is subject to review by Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette.

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Staskiewicz, who was vice president of Metro's charitable foundation, states in the lawsuit that she learned in October 2014 that Faas sought to dissolve the foundation to "divert the net proceeds of the Metro-CHS transaction" to Metropolitan Health.

She charges the estimated $50 million in net proceeds should be paid to the hospital's charitable foundation.

According to the lawsuit, that has been the case in the all but one of five hospital transactions approved by the attorney general in the past five years. In the remaining sale, she said there were not enough proceeds remaining after the hospital's liabilities were paid.

Staskiewicz said she complained to several Metro employees that she believed Faas' actions were "unethical, wrongful and illegal," and that Metro and its board of directors took no action to "quell Faas' behavior." The board of directors is not named as a defendant in the suit.

The suit also says eight Metro executives were terminated or forced to resign between Oct. 3 and Oct. 29, 2014, including the hospital's chief operating officer, chief medical officer and chief nursing officer.

Staskiewicz said she sent letters about allegations of unethical conduct to Metro board members, physicians, the attorney general, the Michigan State Police and the Wyoming police department.

In October 2014, she said she sent a four-page document to the attorney general called "Pattern of Questionable and Unethical Concerns Hurting Metro Health." She charged Faas with actions she believed were in violation of Michigan law governing nonprofit corporations by:

• Buying a Lincoln SUV, and later a Mercedes Benz, through the company for his personal use, and selling one of the vehicles at trade-in value.

• Serving as a board member of Mercantile Bank in a paid position.

Staskiewicz also alleges that several Metro executives were fired or forced to resign because of their involvement in the document she had sent to the attorney general.

In November, Staskiewicz said she sent a letter to Michigan State Police accusing Faas of embezzlement, stating he used Metro's corporate credit card for his own use and did not reimburse Metro. She also accused him of colluding to have his salary increased without a sign-off from the CFO.

Staskiewicz said in October, Faas persuaded the board to vote to dissolve the foundation before the transaction with CHS. She also says that in December, the foundation board reached a consensus that the $50 million in expected proceeds from Metro-CHS sale should go directly to the foundation.

On Jan. 26, Staskiewicz said she met with Faas and Metro's compliance officer, Ruth Klingensmith, who is not named in the lawsuit. She said Faas provided her with copies of anonymous letters and asked her to discuss them.

According to the lawsuit, Staskiewicz said she had "communicated her concerns of Metro's and Faas' wrongful behavior" to the attorney general, state police and Wyoming police.

Two days later, on Jan. 28, Staskiewicz said Faas notified her by letter that she was fired.

Staskiewicz said she was employed by Metro since 2003 and that Faas praised her performance in her most recent evaluation in 2013. She said she was paid annual bonuses of about $50,000.

The lawsuit accuses Faas and Metro of breach of contract, wrongful discharge and "civil conspiracy" in the firing of Staskiewicz, and alleges the act was a violation of the whistleblower's protection act. Staskiewicz seeks lost wages and damages for emotional and mental distress.

Sue Thoms covers health care for MLive/The Grand Rapids Press. Email her at sthoms1@mlive.com or follow her on Twitter, Facebook or Google+.