Baltimore’s former health commissioner, fired seven months into the job amid reports of a criminal investigation, has been cleared of wrongdoing by state prosecutors and says her reputation was unfairly destroyed.

Dr. Ihuoma Emenuga said she flagged a potential ethical issue related to her outside employment and was prepared to explain it to the city’s ethics board, but before she could do so was abruptly fired. Then word leaked to the media that she was under criminal investigation.

“It’s one thing to let a person lose a job. Then they can move on,” she said. “You take my job and then you destroy my life. What could I possibly have done?”

Emenuga acknowledges that her contract prohibited outside employment. And she did not disclose on ethics forms her work for Chase Brexton Health Care, a city contractor, prior to joining the city, which she says was an oversight. City officials are required to file the forms annually.

But Emenuga maintains she was transparent about her outside work as health commissioner. Before she was hired, she said she told a deputy mayor that she wanted to continue seeing patients to keep her skills and license intact — and was encouraged to do so. Her staff knew as well, she said.

Emenuga ended up working far less than she intended — a half-day each month for which she received about $3,000.

Baltimore sought out Emenuga for the job, she said, via a headhunter who reached out over LinkedIn on Oct. 31 last year. Things quickly fell into place: She had a virtual meeting with Deputy Mayor Letitia Dzirasa and then with Mayor Brandon Scott. A face-to-face meeting with Scott and his chief administrator followed. She was offered the job the next day.

Emenuga had worked for the city health department before, as a medical director overseeing clinical service providers in Baltimore public schools and school-based health centers. She also served as medical director at Chase Brexton and chief medical officer at Park West Health Systems and Family Health Centers of Baltimore. At the time she was approached by the city for the open health commissioner spot, she was managing partner at a health care consulting firm.

Emenuga said after accepting the job she noticed that her contract forbade outside work, and told Dzirasa she wanted to continue to perform occasional clinical work to maintain her skills. She had done so in her previous city role as well.

“She said this was OK and I wanted her to know it’s Chase Brexton — I don’t want [her] to think I’m all over the city seeing patients in all kinds of places,” Emenuga said.

Dzirasa, who previously served as health commissioner and left her deputy mayor post in June, confirmed to The Baltimore Banner that Emenuga requested to continue clinical work and that Dzirasa encouraged her clinicians to do so. But Dzirasa disputed the level of detail that was disclosed.

Emenuga “indicated she would be doing clinical work. I did not know where, nor was it clear the number of hours,” Dzirasa said. “Certainly with any organization funded by the state or the city, this is information we would want to make note of.”

Since 2022, the city has paid Chase Brexton upwards of $1.4 million for HIV education and testing, Board of Estimates records show.

In May, a grant for Chase Brexton that was passing through the city landed on Emenuga’s desk. Her chief of staff noted that Emenuga’s approval could be a possible conflict, and they sought guidance from a city attorney assigned to the health department. Emenuga said she wasn’t worried about herself, but instead about causing an issue for Chase Brexton.

“I was concerned that they might say, ‘I’m sorry, Chase, whatever it is you’re getting, you can’t get any more,’” she said.

Emenuga said she did not hear back for weeks and followed up on June 10. That’s when she was told the Board of Ethics said her work was considered secondary employment and that they were looking into an ethical violation. She said she was told to write up an explanation and appear before the board, which was not scheduled to meet again until August.

The Health Department’s attorney advised her to amend her financial disclosure forms, she said, which did not reflect any work at Chase Brexton prior to her city role.

“I’ve used the word irresponsible on my part, but I think that I don’t think I understood the gravity,” Emenuga said.

The form required Emenuga to disclose her work for the previous year. Because she was not working for the city in 2023, the work performed for Chase Brexton did not seem to be a conflict of interest, Emenuga said.

Filers sign a disclaimer swearing that the information on the form is true, under penalty of perjury. But amendments to ethics filings are not uncommon. The mayor amended his forms for 2022 and 2023, while his Chief of Staff Marvin James filed multiple amendments to his 2022 form. In more extreme cases, amendments are ordered by the ethics board. City Council President Nick Mosby was required to amend his filing to disclose his interest in a legal defense fund.

At the end of July, Emenuga was summoned to City Hall on a Friday afternoon. “Speaking to the deputy mayor is not enough. You do not have permission from the mayor,” Emenuga recalled being told. “So we’re going to move ahead to terminate you.”

She was escorted out of the building.

The case had become the subject of an investigation by the Office of the Inspector General, which oversees the ethics board, though Emenuga said to this day she was never contacted by anyone from that office. The probe was forwarded to the Office of the State Prosecutor for review of potential corruption.

After about 2½ months, state prosecutors determined there was “insufficient evidence of criminal activity to warrant prosecution” and closed the case, according to documents obtained under a public records request.

Gregg Bernstein, Emenuga’s lawyer and a former Baltimore state’s attorney, said such investigations typically take far longer.

“She did not violate her employment agreement and she certainly did not commit any crime or violate any laws,” Bernstein said, “and I think that’s evidenced by the speed in which the Office of the State Prosecutor concluded that there was insufficient evidence.”

Inspector General Isabel Cumming’s report was not made public at the time and has not been since. She declined to comment on why it was not released, saying: “We cannot discuss ongoing investigations.”

Asked if she had any regrets about forwarding the issue to investigators in light of their decision not to prosecute Emenuga, Cumming said she “stands by the report that was presented.”

A spokesman for the mayor said the office will not comment on any personnel matters.

Almost five months later, the city has yet to nominate a permanent replacement.

Emenuga said she’s unaware of any clashes with other city officials that might have hastened her dismissal and was effusive in her praise of her health department staff. She said there were differences of opinion with other administrators over how to distribute an influx of funds to combat the city’s opioid epidemic — an issue city leaders have been reluctant to discuss.

Emenuga lived in Howard County for 16 years prior to becoming health commissioner, and uprooted her family to move into the city as required by Baltimore’s charter. One of her children has special needs. Rather than disrupt her education, Emenuga said she paid tuition for the child to remain in Howard County schools.

“I could have stayed,” she said. “I did this because I didn’t want to be a dishonest employee of the city.”

The strife has stained Emenuga’s reputation to the point where she believes no one will hire her. Offers from recruiters who used to contact her several times each month have dried up. Chase Brexton has allowed her to stay on staff, but the work is part-time.

“To go out and make me unemployable, to tell everyone I’m a criminal,” she said of the Scott administration, tears rolling down her cheeks. “They ruined me.”