Beit T’Shuvah board to meet amid dispute between new CEO and longtime leadership

The board of directors of Beit T’Shuvah, one of the nation’s premier Jewish addiction treatment centers, will meet Tuesday in the wake of an email sent to all employees by new CEO Bill Resnick on the morning of Sunday, May 15.

The email, titled, “Cleaning house,” informed Beit T’Shuvah’s 116 employees that its key leadership, including founder Harriet Rossetto and spiritual leader Rabbi Mark Borovitz, had been fired.

Resnick’s email, which was obtained by the Journal, also announced the firing of three other top-level officials at Beit T’Shuvah: alternative sentencing coordinator Carrie Newman, director of administration and admissions Brandon Berry, director of clinical training Rebecca Share, as well as Beit T’Shuvah’s attorney, Eve Wagner. Resnick also wrote that he would sue Wagner for malpractice, as well as board chair Russell Kern and board member Jon Esformes for “illegal and unethical behavior.”

“I am happy to discuss with anyone, but for now I just wanted to let everyone know that these five people are no longer employees, and after Tuesday will not be allowed on the premises, with possible exception of religious services,” Resnick wrote. “We are saving lives at Beit T'Shuvah, really. If you are not with the program, I don't have patience. The work is too important.”

The news came as a shock, since Resnick, a local philanthropist and psychiatrist had been named CEO just last month, after serving on Beit T’Shuvah’s board since 2005 and becoming its chairman in 2012.