NEW: Sunny Hostin’s Husband Hit With Jarring Accusations In Bombshell Lawsuit

Sunny Hostin, a co-host of ABC’s The View and prominent public figure, is now finding her family under intense scrutiny after her husband, Emmanuel Hostin, has been named in a lawsuit alleging professional misconduct. The case, which surfaced publicly this week, includes claims that could tarnish the reputation of the orthopedic surgeon and threaten the family’s standing in legal and professional circles. Hostin is one of almost 200 individuals implicated in one of New York’s most significant RICO lawsuits to date.

He, along with numerous others, is accused of accepting kickbacks for performing surgeries and fraudulently billing an insurance company that covers taxi and ride-share drivers, including those working for Uber and Lyft. The lawsuit filed on December 17 alleges that “Hostin knowingly provided fraudulent medical and other healthcare services including arthroscopic surgeries.” It claims that Hostin then billed the insurance firm American Transit “in exchange for kickbacks and/or other compensation which were disguised as dividends or other cash distributions.” In response to the accusations, Hostin’s attorney, Daniel Thwaites, told DailyMail that his client “denies each and every allegation” and described the lawsuit as a “blanket, scattershot, meritless lawsuit by a near-bankrupt insurance carrier.”

“It is meant to intimidate and harass doctors from collecting for care given to American Transit insureds and their passengers,” Thwaites explained. He said that Hostin maintains an “impeccable” record and criticized the company’s approach, saying: “American Transit has rushed into the lawsuit without ever conducting an examination of Dr. Hostin or expressing any concerns to his lawyers.” Thwaites also argued, “The real story here is about an insurance carrier abusing the legal system to limit and restrict health care benefits to its insureds and their passengers, and write off its proper obligations.”

Sunny and her husband, “Manny,” have been together for over two decades, having married in 1998, two years after they first met. After enduring several miscarriages and undergoing IVF treatments, she and Manny had two children, Gabriel and Paloma. Manny, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon and sports doctor, met Sunny at a church in Maryland where they were both residing. He attended Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and now practices in New York, affiliated with notable institutions like Mount Sinai and Lenox Hill hospitals. In 2018, the couple purchased a 10-bedroom, 10-bathroom Tudor-style home from the 1920s located in Purchase, N.Y.

American Transit alleges that insurance fraud is “rampant” in New York State and attributes it to the state’s “No-Fault Law.” Under this law, insurers are required to cover up to $50,000 in medical expenses for individuals injured in road accidents. In a statement, American Transit explained, “These substantial possible no-fault recoveries can incentivize providers with ill intent to over-diagnose, over-treat, and over-bill to recover the most money for themselves.”

Taxis and ride-share vehicles are now subject to a mandate requiring them to provide up to $200,000 in coverage—four times the amount required for private drivers. “This has put a target on the backs of livery vehicles, and the insurance companies which insure them, for unsavory persons seeking to capitalize on payouts following injuries,” American Transit stated. The company further highlighted that the exploitation of the No-Fault Law has led to hundreds of millions in fraudulent payments, destabilizing the livery insurance market in New York City, inflating premiums for diligent taxi and livery drivers, and adversely affecting the public.

In response, American Transit is seeking over $450 million in damages in the ongoing lawsuit. The insurance company alleges that Hostin was granted an “investment” interest in Empire State Ambulatory Surgery Center as a quid pro quo for directing a “steady stream” of patients to the facility. According to the court documents, “Empire State ASC issued regular payments to or for the benefit of Hostin, which, in fact, were illegal kickbacks for referrals.”