San Francisco-based dental insurer Delta Dental of California has fired its CEO and President Tony Barth after discovering he had engaged in and failed to report a consensual relationship with a subordinate.
“Delta Dental’s culture is based on a strong set of ethics and values, including trust, service, excellence and innovation. As one of the nation’s largest dental benefits providers, these values are vital to our culture, guide how we operate and treat one another, and are essential to our future success,” said Delta Dental of California Chairperson Lynn Franzoi in a statement.
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Delta Dental of California and its affiliates function as the nation’s largest dental benefits administrator with nearly 35 million subscribers across 15 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
All are part of the Delta Dental Plans Association, based in Oak Brook, Illinois, the not-for-profit national association of the 39 independent Delta Dental member companies that collectively cover more than 75 million people nationwide.
In recent years the company has been focused on growth past stand-alone dental benefits and into medical and pharmacy business lines, exemplified by its $155 million equity investment into Portland, Oregon-based health insurer Moda Health.
Barth had been with the organization for around two decades, according to his LinkedIn. He was appointed as CEO and President of Delta Dental of California in 2016.
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According to the company’s Form 990 for FY 2016, Barth earned $8.2 million in compensation and the company and its affiliates made more than $8 billion in revenue over the same period.
In response to Barth’s termination, the company’s board of directors have formed an office of the CEO and appointed Chief Financial Officer Mike Castro as the company’s acting CEO.
Chief Human Resources Officer Sarah Chavarria and board member Steven McCann will be assisting Castro as advisers.
“I thank the members of our board for placing their trust in me and look forward to leading the company during this transition, with the support of Steven and Sarah and the rest of our outstanding senior management team,” Castro said in a statement.
“In the meantime, it will be business as usual, and our day-to-day operations will not change. We are more committed than ever to serving the customers and enrollees who rely on us.
When reached for comment the company said it had no additional information to add past the released statement.
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