Top Kaiser Surgeon Accuses Co-worker of Submitting Fake Board Complaints in Effort to Push Him Out

A top Kaiser Permanente surgeon says a co-worker, a senior doctor at his Salem clinic, submitted false information to state medical boards in an effort to push him out.

On March 25, Dr. Joseph Stalfire, a specialist in obstetrics and gynecology, filed a lawsuit in Marion County Circuit Court accusing Dr. Ming Hsieh of defamation. Both doctors work at Kaiser’s Skyline Medical Office in Salem.

Kaiser’s Oregon subsidiary is also named in the lawsuit. Both Hsieh and a spokesman for Kaiser declined to comment on the allegations.

Stalfire and Hsieh were top doctors at Kaiser. Stalfire was a former chief surgical officer for the Salem area. Hsieh was a senior physician who ran the clinic where they both worked.

Their relationship deteriorated, according to the legal complaint, after Stalfire took several months off work to recover from a 2023 surgery to address ongoing issues stemming from a tree falling on his leg two years earlier. “Hsieh texted and called plaintiff repeatedly and demanded that plaintiff return to work sooner than medically recommended,” the complaint says, and then “started questioning plaintiff about his age, his ability to continue working, and about his plans for retirement in an effort to pressure plaintiff into quitting his job at Kaiser.”

Stalfire wasn’t the only target, he alleges. “Hsieh has a history of engaging in this type of behavior and has done so with at least three other physicians that have worked with him at Kaiser,” the complaint says.

After Stalfire reported Hsieh’s behavior to human resources, the dispute escalated, according to the complaint. “Hsieh told plaintiff’s co-workers, colleagues, and other who knew plaintiff that plaintiff was a ‘con-man,’ a criminal, and ‘despicable.’”

Then: “On or about August 9, 2023, Hsieh submitted numerous ‘anonymous’ complaints about plaintiff based on false information to the Washington Medical Commission, Oregon Medical Board, and various other government agencies in an effort to cause plaintiff to lose his medical license,” the lawsuit alleges. None of the complaints was substantiated, it says.

Stalfire says he discovered the deception when he made public records requests for the complaints and “discovered that Hsieh listed his deceased mother-in-law’s phone number for his contact information,” according to the legal complaint.

Stalfire “continues to suffer from severe emotional distress and mental anguish to this day,” it says. He’s demanding $1.5 million in damages.