Allain, Horton notified of possible suit by FFH CEO

Franklin Foundation Hospital Chief Executive Officer Claudia Eisenmann has retained legal counsel with the threat of defamation, libel and slander suits against Drs. Brent Allain and Randall Horton.
The two physicians, who have been vocal in their support for Drs. Stephen McPherson and Donna Tesi, have received a letter dated Nov. 25 from attorney Murphy J. Foster III of the Breazeale, Sachse and Wilson law firm, informing them of the possible litigation.
“This law firm and the undersigned have been retained by Claudia Eisenmann to investigate, and if necessary, prosecute a claim of defamation, liable and slander against the both of you and Acadiana Family Practice Associates, LLP,” states the letter that Allain shared with the Banner-Tribune.
“While no suit has yet been filed, one is currently being contemplated depending upon the result of our investigation and your further actions and comments. As CEO of Franklin Foundation Hospital, Claudia Eisenmann has at a minimum, been subjected to outlandish and inaccurate statements made by both of you to public media outlets and, at least in the case of Dr. Allain, by Facebook posting.
“Various news articles have been provided to me published by the St. Mary and Franklin Banner-Tribune attributing certain false, misleading and malicious statements to each of you. Understand that these false and malicious comments have and stand to continue to adversely impact Ms. Eisenmann’s reputation in the business community.”
The letter continues with quotes from Banner-Tribune articles on recent hospital board meetings.
In the past month members of the Hospital Service District 1 board have terminated, reinstated and since extended the current contracts of McPherson, internist, and Tesi, general surgeon. Amid public outcry, the board voted last week to honor both contracts until March 31 and asked Eisenmann to begin new contract negotiations.
“In light of this notice to you of the contemplated law suit for defamation against the two of you and Acadiana Family Practice Associates, LLP, it is necessary that a litigation hold be placed on all of your electronic communications including emails, social media postings and written or electronic communications of any kind or sort relative to Ms. Eisenmann including but not limited to statements made on Facebook made by each of you,” the letter states.
“If litigation is required, a complete and thorough search of your computers, laptops, notebooks, tablets, and cellular telephones, will be forensically conducted and for that reason we ask that you insure that no information or data is deleted and that all necessary steps are taken to preserve any such comments made by you or received by you regarding Claudia Eisenmann. Failure to preserve these records in light of this threatened litigation would, at the very least, result in sanctions by a civil court.”
The potential litigation could be avoided if Allain and Horton would “make a public apology to Ms. Eisenmann,” Foster wrote. “Your statements go far beyond the pale and are not becoming of professionals in your position. You should apologize.”
He also said they “must immediately cease and desist any public comment whatsoever, either oral, electronic or written, which speaks ill of Ms. Eisenmann in her role as CEO. Failure to comply with either of these requests will likely result in a lawsuit and a subpoena of all written and computer generated communications, whether on social media or otherwise.
“If you would like to discuss this matter and the circumstances of your withdrawal from this verbal warfare that you have initiated, please have your lawyer(s) contact me immediately,” the letter concludes.