Former Abbey CEO Sues Over His Termination : Courts: Victor Chaltiel, who joined company from acquired Total Pharmaceuticals, alleges 'bad-faith tactics' in ouster.

Former Abbey CEO Sues Over His Termination : Courts: Victor Chaltiel, who joined company from acquired Total Pharmaceuticals, alleges ‘bad-faith tactics’ in ouster.

By GREG JOHNSON

April 13, 1994 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

COSTA MESA —

A former president of Abbey Healthcare Group Inc., alleging that he was wrongfully terminated earlier this year, has sued the health care provider for more than $6 million.

In a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Victor Chaltiel, 52, alleges that Abbey used “heavy-handed, bad-faith tactics” to eliminate his employment contract and to push him out as president and chief executive officer. The suit also alleges that Abbey never intended to keep Chaltiel in the top jobs for more than a few months.

Chaltiel, a Manhattan Beach resident, became Abbey’s president and CEO late last year after Abbey paid $195 million in November to acquire Torrance-based Total Pharmaceuticals. Chaltiel had served as Total Pharmaceuticals’ chairman, president and chief executive since 1989.

Abbey Healthcare, based in Costa Mesa, announced Feb. 9 that Chaltiel had resigned. The company would not comment Tuesday on his lawsuit, filed Friday.

According to the suit, Chaltiel played an active role in Abbey’s acquisition of Total Pharmaceuticals. The suit states that Chaltiel helped to arrange nearly $200 million in financing to complete the friendly acquisition.

Chaltiel also maintains that Abbey’s board of directors assured him he would play a key role in the company and that he was given an employment contract with safeguards against being terminated without cause.

But, according to the suit, the relationship between Chaltiel and Abbey Chairman Timothy M. Aitken quickly soured. According to the suit, Abbey “inexplicably terminated” Chaltiel after attempting to strip him of the employment contract.

Chaltiel also is seeking an additional $1 million through arbitration in connection with an alleged breach of his employment contract.

Abbey, which reported a 1993 profit of $14.3 million on revenue of $101 million, provides drugs and health care services to patients at their homes. Abbey has acquired several companies in recent years, including Specialized Homecare Inc. in Madison, Mich., and Protocare Inc. in Boston.

In February, Aitken described the company’s recent string of acquisitions, including Total Pharmaceuticals, as giving it “all the tools to sustain (its) leadership position as a low-cost provider of health care services.”