Nov 22, 2013 06:32 AM EST By Staff Reporter, UniversityHerald Reporter

Dr. Rainer Gruessner, the suspended head of surgery at the University of Arizona, has filed a 191-page lawsuit in Pima County Superior Court against University Physicians Health Care, the Arizona Board of Regents and the University of Arizona (UA) claiming that he was forced out of his job.

Gruessner has been placed on paid administrative leave since mid-September. But he is still head of the UA department of surgery.

The German born physician is not demanding any financial damages but is seeking restoration of positions as a tenured professor at the College of Medicine, as chairman of the department of surgery, and as an active staff physician for University Physicians Healthcare.

Officials from the UA and the UA Health Network said that they do not comment on pending litigation.

 "They will file appropriate responses to the lawsuit with the court," spokeswoman Katie Riley said. "Dr. Gruessner maintains his title as head of the UA department of surgery. He is on paid administrative leave. Dr. Alexander Chiu is the acting head of the department of surgery," Arizona Daily Star reports.

According to a Sept. 19 memorandum from UA Health Network president and CEO Dr. Michael Waldrum, Gruessner was placed on paid administrative leave for violating a set of rules related to transplant records. The university claims that the surgeon either changed records on transplant procedures himself or instructed others to alter them.

Gruessner had asked a colleague to help fix a problem in the record which involved his name being assigned to transplant surgeries. Apparently, Gruessner had performed more surgeries than allotted to him. However, hospital officials allege that Gruessner had 'unilaterally' changed a database without taking consent from the authority.

"The manner in which he (Gruessner) conducted himself put the entire abdominal transplant program at risk," UA Medical Center attorney Amy J. Gittler wrote in an Oct. 21 memo.

The German-born physician denies any bad behavior. He claims that he was suspended because he spoke up about 'a climate of fear, retaliation and favoritism' that crept in during College of Medicine Dean Steve Goldschmid's tenure. It has lead to low confidence among faculty and staff, and a financial system that rewards Goldschmid's supporters.

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