The corporate exits and reorganization at Teladoc continue. Mike Waters, chief operating officer (COO) of Teladoc since mid-2022, has handed in his resignation effective 31 December. The reason given by Teladoc in an SEC 8-K regulatory filing (see item 5.02) is “a change in the Company’s executive reporting structure” which under US law is a resignation ‘for good reason’ as explicitly specified in his employment agreement. He is off the executive leadership webpage.
The parting will not be a difficult one. Mr. Waters will have:
- nine months of continued base salary
- up to nine months of premiums for continued medical, dental or vision coverage pursuant to COBRA
- any earned but unpaid annual bonus in respect of 2024
- accelerated vesting of all time-based equity awards granted to Mr. Waters prior to the Separation Date, which are unvested as of the Separation Date and are scheduled to vest in the nine months following the Separation Date
- continued eligibility to vest in awards subject to performance-based vesting conditions if and to the extent the performance conditions are satisfied during that nine-month period.
In return, Mr. Waters will remain an employee through the 31 December separation date. He also has to execute a separation and release agreement that releases any further claims against Teladoc. It also includes a post-termination nine-month non-compete and non-solicit agreement. General non-compete agreements are controversial with new laws limiting them but if baked into an older employment agreement are likely spelled out.
Mr. Waters’ business operational roots are in health systems and practices. He was previously with the Providence health system in Washington, first with Swedish’s practice groups, then in senior executive positions with the system, for a total of over 14 years.
Teladoc’s top-level executive churn has been substantial this year. At the CEO level, Chuck Divita replaced ousted Jason Gorevic in June after a short under two-month vacancy. Richard Napolitano, the chief accounting officer, departed in May and joined Thomson Reuters where he is now chief accounting officer (LinkedIn). He was replaced by Joseph Catapano from Pitney Bowes in September. Laizer Kornwasser, the president of enterprise growth and global markets, formerly president of CareCentrix prior to its acquisition by Walgreens, was terminated in July in another reorganization and apparently has not been replaced. Healthcare Dive
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