Appeals court denies Ralph de la Torre’s attempt to revive lawsuit against senators

WASHINGTON — A federal appellate panel on Friday upheld a lower court ruling tossing out a lawsuit by Ralph de la Torre, the former CEO of Steward Health Care, against U.S. senators who held him in contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a subpoena.

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De La Torre sued 20 members of the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in 2024 after they voted to refer him for a criminal contempt charge for failing to appear at a hearing about the hospital chain’s bankruptcy. He claimed the senators violated his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

The suit was dismissed last September by US District Court Judge Trevor McFadden, who ruled the actions of the senators were protected by the speech and debate clause of the Constitution. That clause shields members of Congress from lawsuits for performing official legislative duties.

Writing for a unanimous , Judge Patricia A. Millett said “Dr. de la Torre insists that the Speech and Debate Clause does not bar this suit. He is completely wrong.”

An attorney for de la Torre did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The senators took the action after de la Torre ignored the committee’s subpoena and did not show up at its hearing on Sept. 18, 2024. His lawyer said at the time that it was not appropriate for de la Torre to testify while the company was still in bankruptcy proceedings and that the former executive was being made a scapegoat for Steward’s failure.

Attorney Alexander Merton wrote to the committee that he was concerned that “the true purpose of the Hearing was not to gather facts within the Committee’s constitutional and congressional remit, but instead a pseudo-criminal proceeding with the goal of convicting Dr. de la Torre in a court of public opinion.”

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The committee held the hearing anyway and set up an empty chair in front of a name tag for de la Torre.

Millett, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, said de la Torre’s concerns were not an excuse to ignore the subpoena.

“Even assuming Dr. de la Torre could not have answered any questions, that does not excuse his failure to appear,” she wrote.

The committee’s vote to refer de la Torre to the Justice Department for a criminal contempt charge was the first such action in more than 50 years.

De la Torre’s suit was filed against all members of the committee except Senator Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, who did not vote for the contempt resolutions.

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