Santa Clara County Executive Jeff Smith said several outside and internal inspectors found "absolutely no evidence'' that the patients in question died because of negligence.

But Smith acknowledged that the hospital's cardiology department is "dysfunctional" because of the many "personality conflicts" and "plethora of he-said, she-said arguments."

Filed Friday in U.S. District Court in San Jose, the federal lawsuit offers a rare glimpse into the mostly private goings-on in the county-run hospital hallways. Seventy-four pages of allegations paint a one-sided picture of death, backbiting and sexism.

The suit was brought by Thressa Walker, a medical administrative assistant in the cardiology department; Dr. Geeta Singh, a cardiologist; and Dr. Kai Ihnken, chief of cardiothoracic surgery.

"This was a last resort,'' said Charles Bonner, a Sausalito attorney who filed the suit with his partner and son, A. Cabral Bonner. "But the plaintiffs felt this was a moral imperative that they come forward. We have to tell the community what is going on here, that people are dying, and the administration will not change."

Named as defendants are Santa Clara County, Valley Medical Center; Dr. Hollister Brewster, chief of cardiology; Dr. Alfonso Banuelos, chief medical officer; Dr. Dolly Goel, medical director; and Dr. Peter Gregor, a cardiologist. Among other things, the suit alleges retaliation, discrimination, a hostile work environment, invasion of privacy, slander and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

One of the most serious allegations stems from the death of an unnamed patient in February 2009. Singh said she advised the patient not to get a stress test on his heart because of his fragile health and history of family heart attacks. Singh said she recommended a "cardiac catheterization" instead.

But other cardiologists ignored the patient's wishes and Singh's advice, the lawsuit alleges, and gave the patient a stress test anyway. The patient suffered cardiac arrest and died.

Both Walker and Singh allege that they were retaliated against by being ignored, verbally abused and embarrassed in e-mails, among other things, as a result of filing complaints with the Joint Commission of Accreditation Health Organizational regarding what they felt was "substandard" patient care.

This allegation does not surprise Smith, who was well aware of this complaint, and many others that the three plaintiffs have filed with county, state and federal officials. He said the negligence allegations have been thoroughly investigated internally and by outside experts, and they found "absolutely no evidence of poor or detrimental care."

The third plaintiff, Ihnken, states that in April 2008 he had wanted to perform surgery on a heart patient sooner rather than later, but "administrators denied him that possibility," and the patient died, the suit alleges. Ihnken said after he spoke out about this, he was slandered in public and that his contract wasn't renewed because of it. His last day of work will be in June, his lawyer said.

Smith insisted that none of the "three individuals" have been retaliated against, although he acknowledged that from their point of view, they probably would have liked to see more done on their behalf. Smith said the decision not to retain Ihnken was a cost-cutting move since the number of cardiac surgeries has been declining.

The multicomplaint suit also alleges misanthropy and inappropriate sex jokes at the hospital. In one example, the suit accuses Brewster of making a rude comment to a patient regarding his genital infection and sex with a pig, and using an expletive at a staff meeting after seeing a movie on personality types.

Smith said it's "natural" for the head of a department to receive the lion's share of criticism, and he added none of these allegations are new to him. The trouble has been long documented.

"This lawsuit is the last forum available to them," Smith said. "I'm not surprised, I'm disappointed."

Contact Lisa Fernandez at 408-920-5002.