Substance use disorder provider Landmark Recovery is facing a lawsuit over an employee settlement agreement that includes sexual harassment allegations involving owner and chairman, Cliff Boyle.
The lawsuit was originally filed in state court in Tennessee on Jan. 22, 2024, and was transferred to a federal court on Feb. 20, 2024. The plaintiff, former Chief of Staff for Legal Operations Elizabeth Mattson, alleges that Landmark Recovery violated the terms of a settlement agreement. According to court documents, the agreement came after Mattson allegedly reported Boyle for sexual harassment to human resources. As part of the settlement, Mattson left the company.
While not addressed too specifically, court documents state that Boyle and Landmark reached a settlement agreement that detailed the date of her departure from the company, “financial terms,” and agreements of mutual non-disparagement and confidentiality.
Franklin, Tennessee-based Landmark Recovery declined to comment for this article. The company is active in the courts regarding this litigation. On March 20, it moved to have the case dismissed or stayed.
At the heart of the dispute, Mattson alleges that Boyle repeatedly acted inappropriately while she was on a business trip to the Cayman Islands with Boyle and other company employees that ran from Oct. 6 to 12.
During the first week of January, attorneys for Landmark Recovery and Mattson hashed out a separation agreement. On Jan. 16, Landmark Recovery called off the agreement, claiming that Mattson “had not been forthright with [her attorney] about the number of people with whom she had discussed her allegations regarding the Caymans.”
Landmark claims in court documents that Mattson had discussed the nature of her departure with the company with employees on Jan. 5, her last day, and the day each side’s counsel came to an agreement in principle. Mattson signed the agreement on Jan. 9.
Landmark Recovery has faced numerous other struggles over the last few years after charting an epic growth voyage for itself.
Most recently, Landmark Recovery was evicted from Oklahoma and Las Vegas facilities for nonpayment. The company suffered a 40% reduction in revenue after the Indiana state government rescinded three of its four facility licenses to operate in the state after a string of deaths and other reports of mishaps at the facilities in the summer of 2023.
The company has also seen several executives come and go over the past few months. Boyle has also piled additional investment into the company. While still pending, Landmark Recovery lost an initial appeal to re-open the three shuttered Indiana facilities.
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