Healthcare Tech Legal Defense
Donation protected
Background
Hi everyone, my name is Jung Hoon Son. I am a physician, a trained pathologist (residency: New York Presbyterian - Columbia), who dove into healthcare tech wanting to combat impending physician burnout by better leveraging healthcare data.
I am forced to raise some funds immediately as a few unfortunate situations hit me concurrently:
- pulseData's claim of "trade secret misappropriation" (Lawsuit filed May 2023)
- Terminal cancer (Stage 4 cholangiocarcinoma) of my mother-in-law (Symptoms started in October 2022, delayed diagnosis in Feb 2023)
- Personal financial strain from the above events.
1. Claims of "Trade Secret Misappropriation": pulseData vs. Jung Hoon Son
- The trade secret misappropriation law is broken.
- I resigned from my role at a fledgling startup pulseData in November 2022, because I started to recognize that I was burning out from lack of ancillary support doing too much at a small company. With various external factors at play, the request for a simple 1 week off to recharge was unreasonably denied as well.
- The filed complaint mentions absolutely no details about the trade secret that I am allegedly misappropriating: it'd be really nice if they specify what trade secret they have.
- For everyone out there, and lawyers reading this who may want to get involved in the case, I do not possess any trade secrets, let alone having financially benefitted from anything. Instead, they keep pursuing me as I try to continue on my career path.
2. Mother-in-law's Stage 4 Cholangiocarcinoma
Meanwhile, one of the lingering thoughts in my head, as I resigned, was my mother-in-law's seemingly cancer-like symptoms - early satiety, strong aversion to food (she's a fantastic cook). My immediate thought: "this has to be stomach cancer, or cancer somewhere."
Their insurance oddly didn't cover the workup, so they had to reluctantly pay out of pocket for an upper/lower GI endoscopy, which gave her a false assurance that all is well ("chronic gastritis"). I had intended to take a breather from work and wanted to give my mother-in-law cash (out of pocket) to get a CT scan. I was planning to do that with the $20,000 severance pay, until these legal processes started.
Sadly... that workup got much delayed into February 2023 (just before I started my new role) related to insurance and need to get a "reason for CT" first.
3. Major hit on personal finances
- As stated before my severance was voided ($20k) after having worked there for 5 years on these allegations alone.
- I had a very end-of-the-year heavy ($80k annual+biannual bonus) compensation structure, which most likely would've reset to $0 after my CPO left.
- No income for (November 2022-February 2023), as they sunk my likely job prospect at SmarterDx (they were hit with cease & desist, apologies for all the craziness)
- Like most physicians, I have always been deeply in debt (medical school loans amount to $350k+), so the proposed settlement citing any sort of "business damages" (what business damages did I possibly cause?) is substantial for my finances. Isn't there a loose guidance of "don't squeeze a turnip" in law?
Despite my attempts to resolve this matter quietly, the opposing counsel seems insistent on some substantial monetary settlement amount for the purported damages I caused, that FAR exceeds my ability to pay.
Personal Relationships
- I've forcefully been disconnected from a lot of my colleagues at pulseData.
- My marriage relationship is taking a hit because of this.
- I worry about my son, Mark, a 4-year-old energetic genius. I do love him, and currently cannot provide the best care for him since November 2022. He's already famous - was featured in the official NYC news outlets including MTA TikTok:
- https://www.tiktok.com/@mta/video/7158139087839317291
- https://patch.com/new-york/upper-west-side-nyc/little-upper-west-sider-mission-ride-every-train-nyc
What I'll do with the money:
Several law firms have quoted me:
- Retainer: $20-25k retainer to start
- Plus variable, outcome of the case: ranges from $30k-$50k+
If in any case the fundraiser goes above the goal, I'd gladly donate the extra to another healthcare worker in a legal mess, especially given that healthcare tech has been treating physicians and clinicians very poorly during this startup boom.
Organizer
Jung Hoon Son
Organizer
New York, NY