A former top-ranking sales representative for Zimmer Biomet Holdings says he was fired after he complained about the company's practice of giving gifts to doctors to encourage them to use its products.
The claim by Michael Swiss comes in a lawsuit his attorneys filed Thursday in New York, where Swiss sold Biomet dental implants and related devices for four years before his 2011 firing.
Swiss, 43, who said he hasn't been able to find a comparable full-time job since his firing, demands damages from Warsaw, Ind.-based Zimmer Biomet totaling $10 million.
That covers his lost wages, potential future wages, legal fees and punitive damages against the company, said his lawyer, Jennifer Siegel of Sanford Heisler Kimpel LLP of New York.
The lawsuit, filed in New York's Ulster County, says the state's False Claims Act protects workers from retaliation for raising complaints about violations of the act.
A Zimmer Biomet spokeswoman, Monica Kendrick, said the company won't comment on specifics in the lawsuit, but it denies Swiss' main allegations.
Swiss says Biomet ordered him to give trips, meals and other freebies to doctors and their staff as part of marketing its dental products. Swiss said the free goods and services amounted to kickbacks, which aren't allowed under the False Claims Act.
Swiss said he was Biomet's third most productive sales representative in 2009, but after repeatedly complaining about the gift-giving, the company put him on a performance improvement plan and later fired him.
“Mr. Swiss had personal knowledge of alleged illegal kickback schemes Biomet used from at least 2007 until 2011,” said David Sanford, another Swiss attorney. “During this period, he was aware that Biomet allegedly provided money, goods, and services to induce customers — including oral surgeons, dentists, laboratories, hospitals, and educational institutions in Ulster County — to order and use Biomet’s products. Many these customers subsequently sought reimbursement for these products from the publicly funded Medicaid program, in violation of state and federal laws."
The firing caused financial hardship that forced Swiss to sell his longtime home in New Paltz, N.Y., and move to Kunkletown, Pa. He now works at a Lowe’s hardware store, Siegel said.
Gift-giving by medical device companies and pharmaceutical firms was a longtime common practice, before government and the industry itself began severely limiting the practice in the past 10 years.
Biomet was acquired this year for $14 billion by rival Zimmer and the combined company is called Zimmer Biomet Holdings.
In 2014, Biomet agreed to pay $6 million to settle a lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Justice that alleged one of its subsidiaries illegally paid kickbacks to doctors, in the form of service agreements with their staff, to get them to use its bone growth stimulators.
The claim by Michael Swiss comes in a lawsuit his attorneys filed Thursday in New York, where Swiss sold Biomet dental implants and related devices for four years before his 2011 firing.
Swiss, 43, who said he hasn't been able to find a comparable full-time job since his firing, demands damages from Warsaw, Ind.-based Zimmer Biomet totaling $10 million.
That covers his lost wages, potential future wages, legal fees and punitive damages against the company, said his lawyer, Jennifer Siegel of Sanford Heisler Kimpel LLP of New York.
The lawsuit, filed in New York's Ulster County, says the state's False Claims Act protects workers from retaliation for raising complaints about violations of the act.
A Zimmer Biomet spokeswoman, Monica Kendrick, said the company won't comment on specifics in the lawsuit, but it denies Swiss' main allegations.
Swiss says Biomet ordered him to give trips, meals and other freebies to doctors and their staff as part of marketing its dental products. Swiss said the free goods and services amounted to kickbacks, which aren't allowed under the False Claims Act.
Swiss said he was Biomet's third most productive sales representative in 2009, but after repeatedly complaining about the gift-giving, the company put him on a performance improvement plan and later fired him.
“Mr. Swiss had personal knowledge of alleged illegal kickback schemes Biomet used from at least 2007 until 2011,” said David Sanford, another Swiss attorney. “During this period, he was aware that Biomet allegedly provided money, goods, and services to induce customers — including oral surgeons, dentists, laboratories, hospitals, and educational institutions in Ulster County — to order and use Biomet’s products. Many these customers subsequently sought reimbursement for these products from the publicly funded Medicaid program, in violation of state and federal laws."
The firing caused financial hardship that forced Swiss to sell his longtime home in New Paltz, N.Y., and move to Kunkletown, Pa. He now works at a Lowe’s hardware store, Siegel said.
Gift-giving by medical device companies and pharmaceutical firms was a longtime common practice, before government and the industry itself began severely limiting the practice in the past 10 years.
Biomet was acquired this year for $14 billion by rival Zimmer and the combined company is called Zimmer Biomet Holdings.
In 2014, Biomet agreed to pay $6 million to settle a lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Justice that alleged one of its subsidiaries illegally paid kickbacks to doctors, in the form of service agreements with their staff, to get them to use its bone growth stimulators.