A Diagnostics & Imaging Week

HealthSouth (Birmingham, Alabama) has rejected founder and former CEO Richard Scrushy's demand for more than $100 million in severance pay and bonuses.

"Scrushy systematically plundered HealthSouth by directing enormous accounting fraud, manipulation and misconduct to inflate the apparent revenue, assets and profitability of HealthSouth for the purpose of personal gain," said the company in a court filing in Jefferson County, Alabama.

The company said it would seek damages and costs from Scrushy.

Scrushy filed suit against HealthSouth earlier this month, saying he is entitled to $70 million in severance pay and bonuses under a 2002 employment contract. He was fired by the company in March 2003 and resigned as a director early this month.

Scrushy was acquitted by a U.S. District Court jury in Birmingham in June of a variety of charges related to what the federal government has characterized as a $2.7 billion accounting fraud at the company. He still is facing a number of civil suits and fraud claims filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.