Connecticut Healthcare Tech Co. Sues Ex-Employees for Starting Rival Firm
December 21, 2020
Four former Quality Health Ideas, Inc. (QHI) employees and their new venture, The Stellar Health Group, Inc., have been accused of looting QHI of its valuable business assets to create a competing web-based healthcare platform. The Dec. 18 complaint, filed in the District of Connecticut, brings fourteen counts against the defendants for breach of contract, fiduciary duty, fraud, tortious interference with business relations, and trade secret theft, among other charges.
The filing explains that QHI is a Connecticut-based company that developed a “web-based application that delivers actionable information to primary care providers, improving their quality of care and reducing total medical expenses.” Defendant Benjamin Kraus, the founder’s son-in-law, reportedly joined the QHI team as president and COO in 2015. Allegedly, the three other defendants were hired thereafter, including both a high level officer, who later became a board member at Kraus’s behest, and a chief medical director.