A jury on Friday found that Hamilton County Public Hospital did not breach its employment contract with Dr. Mark Andrew in 2016.

The verdict was unanimous.

The hospital does business as Van Diest Medical Center.

Andrew, a surgeon, was seeking back severance pay in District Court in Hamilton County.

He claimed that VDMC breached his employment contract when it terminated his employment on Dec. 15, 2016, according to online court records.

“Specifically, Dr. Andrew claims that Van Diest Medical Center breached his employment contract because he believes his termination of employment was ‘without cause.’

“Dr. Andrew believes he is entitled to severance pay under the ‘without cause’ provision of his employment contract.”

VDMC disagreed and the jury found in its favor.

The doctor’s contract was terminated by then-Chief Executive Officer Lori Rathbun. Rathbun was later diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, which caused her to have to step down as CEO on June 27, 2017. She died on February 21, 2018.

Dr. Andrew was contracted to work at Van Diest Medical Center as a general surgeon from 2008 through Dec. 15, 2016, online court records show.

Rathbun terminated his employment referring to “paragraph 9(d) of the employment agreement.” It provides for “immediate termination” of the employment contract “if (Van Diest Medical Center) determines in good faith that … (Dr. Andrew) is not providing adequate patient care or the safety of patients is jeopardized,” court filings show.

Paragraph 9(d) does not provide for contractual severance pay.

Dr. Andrew says he did not work from Dec. 16, 2016, through Jan. 22, 2017. It was on that date that he began working for Iowa Specialty Hospital.

That employment ended on Aug. 17, 2017.