Secaucus Hospital Fired Me Once I Ended Affair With CEO, Woman Says

SECAUCUS, NJ — A former ultrasound technician at Hudson Regional Hospital sued the hospital and its top doctor, Dr. Nizar Kifaieh, alleging she was coerced into a sexual relationship with Dr. Kifaieh and then fired from the hospital when she ended the affair.

The former employee is Serafima Isachenko, 30, who lives in West New York. She filed her lawsuit Oct. 20 in Hudson County Superior Court.

In her lawsuit, Isachenko alleges she was wrongfully fired. She says the encounters took place on hospital grounds with Dr. Kifaieh and at times involved other female hospital employees, who she did not name.

Dr. Kifaieh is married, NJ.com reported.

Isachenko worked as an ultrasound technician at the hospital from May 2021 until June 30 of this year. She said she was a strong performer up until she was fired, having never received any written warnings or discipline.

The woman said she met Dr. Kifaieh while on the job in October 2021. Dr. Kifaieh, a medical doctor, is the hospital's president and CEO. He began to text message her after meeting her, persisting to begin a sexual relationship with her. The two began a sexual relationship, she said.

"Kifaieh was very persistent and repeatedly insisted that plaintiff come to his office to engage in sex while she was at work," read the lawsuit.

She also said that "at Kifaieh’s insistence, she and Kifaieh engaged in sexual acts on the premises of Hudson Regional with the involvement of other female employees."

Isachenko said she wished to end the relationship but was "afraid to do so."

She "felt humiliated, intimidated and abused each time defendant Kifaieh harassed her," read her lawsuit. She said that as CEO of the entire hospital, Dr. Kifaieh possessed the ultimate authority over her employment. She said she felt powerless to end the affair, and also said the hospital did not have an "effective anti-harassment policy" in place.

In June of this year, Isachenko ended her sexual relationship with Dr. Kifaieh.

She said soon after she ended it, the hospital fired her on June 30, following an incident involving an ultrasound. She said the firing was retaliation.

For example, she said another ultrasound technician who was also involved in the incident was suspended for one day and was not fired. And their boss, the lead ultrasound technician who was also involved in the incident, received only a warning.

The incident was not disclosed in the lawsuit.

In a statement released through its public relations agency, the hospital and Dr. Kifaieh said the following Wednesday:

"Hudson Regional Hospital, the premier hospital providing comprehensive care to Hudson County, and Dr. Nizar Kifaieh have learned that a complaint was filed against them by a former employee. We are disappointed that such action was taken as the hospital is proud of its efforts to provide a nurturing, supportive and safe environment for our staff. The hospital has retained outside counsel to conduct a comprehensive review of the allegations."

The woman's lawsuit was filed by Thomas McKinney of the Morristown-based law firm Castronovo & McKinney. She is seeking either a trial by jury or to settle, and she is seeking back pay, front pay and payment for "emotional distress, physical manifestation of emotional distress, embarrassment, humiliation and other damages."

This is completely unrelated to this incident at the Secaucus hospital this past summer, when the hospital's marketing director was charged with keeping an illegal cache of nearly 40 guns in his office at the hospital.

Colorful history of the Secaucus town hospital

A real estate developer named Yan Moshe took over ownership of Meadowlands Hospital in 2018, and renamed it Hudson Regional Hospital.

At the time, the Secaucus hospital was routinely given "D" grades for both patient safety and hygiene/cleanliness from outside ratings agencies, and also risked being shut down by the state. At the time it was sold, the Secaucus hospital was operating at 13 percent capacity, meaning only about 26 of its 200 beds were full on any given day.

Moshe also owns two surgery centers in Bergen County, and the same year he bought the Secaucus hospital, the state Department of Health said his Saddle Brook facility may have exposed patients to Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV through lab mix-ups involving blood. Read that story: New Owner Of Secaucus Hospital Sued For Saddle Brook Facility (Jan. 2019)

As many as 3,000 people could have been exposed to HIV between January and September of 2017, said the state of New Jersey.

In the wake of that scandal, two employees were fired and another one resigned at HealthPlus Surgery Center in Saddle Brook, owned by Moshe.

Then, Moshe tried to take over ownership of the hospitals in Bayonne and Hoboken. He and Dr. Kifaieh became involved in a protracted, multi-year legal battle with CarePoint. At one point CarePoint even filed a restraining order against Moshe and Kifaieh, seeking to block them from getting involved in any future negotiations. (The restraining order was later tossed by a judge.) Read that story: Secaucus Hospital Owner Fights To Buy Bayonne, Hoboken Hospitals (June 2020)

Then on Aug. 7 of this year, Secaucus Police say they discovered Hudson Regional's marketing director kept a cache of 28 illegal rifles and 11 handguns in an unlocked closet in his office. Reuven Alonalayoff, 46, of Elmwood Park, was arrested at Newark Liberty International Airport by Secaucus Police with help from Homeland Security agents.

Police found the guns began after a bomb threat was called in to the hospital on July 18. Upon entering the closet in his office, police said they discovered an arsenal of rifles, shotguns and handguns, including 27 rifles/shotguns and a Kriss Vector .45 caliber semi-automatic rifle with a high-capacity magazine, "determined to be an assault rifle," said Secaucus Police.

It still remains unknown why the guns were kept in an office on hospital grounds. But Secaucus Police said the closet was kept unlocked and anyone could have accessed the guns. Read that story: 39 Guns Found In Closet At Secaucus Hospital; Employee Charged (August 2022)

Since he took over ownership, Moshe has been in the midst of an ambitious public relations campaign to try and improve the Secaucus hospital's reputation. The hospital now hosts street fairs, free health screenings and breast cancer lectures.

In the spring of 2020, at the height of the pandemic, the hospital even secured the title of being Hudson County's primary coronavirus testing site, a lucrative designation. Hudson Regional routinely invited TV news crews into the hospital to see how they were dealing with coronavirus, with footage capturing COVID patients in the hospital's ICU.

The hospital has improved in patient safety, and just this year received a "B" grade for patient safety for the very first time.

With reporting from Caren Lissner/Hoboken Patch