Orsinger Charged With Assault

Michel Orsinger, the soon-to-be departed head of DePuy Synthes, was arrested on April 5, 2015, for allegedly assaulting a female family member outside a Sunday morning church service at St. Thomas Monastery in Radnor, Pennsylvania.

Hair Pulling, Tackling and Arm Twisting

According to police documents reported by local media, the family member saw Orsinger sending text messages during the church service. She asked to speak with him outside the church and allegedly took his cell phone from his hands and ran off. Orsinger pursued her and when he caught her puller her hair and then tackled her after she broke free.

Reports say that witnesses say that Orsinger twisted the victim’s arm while trying to get his phone back and was pulled away by a passerby. Two independent witnesses corroborated the victim’s description, police said.

Assault, Disorderly Conduct and Harassment Charges

He was arrested and charged with two charges of simple assault and disorderly conduct, plus a secondary charge of harassment following the incident. The family member was not charged for taking his phone.

This incident occurred around the time that, Johnson & Johnson (J&J), his employer was reorganizing its medical device division and Orsinger decided to leave the company to pursue other interests. A company spokesperson confirmed to OTW that the Michel Orsinger named in the police report was their employee, but that the two events were completely unrelated. The spokesperson told OTW that the company has no comment on the situation involving Orsinger. “It’s a personal matter as far as we are concerned, ” said the spokesperson.

The medical device blogs were busy with speculation over the nature of Orsinger’s texts during church service. No further information was provided.

Following an arraignment, records show Orsinger was released on $30, 000 unsecured bail.

Bail shouldn’t be a problem. According to a Philly.com story in 2011 by David Sell, Orsinger got paid $51.9 million when J&J acquired Synthes, Inc., where he was CEO. He reportedly received a multimillion dollar pay package from J&J. “His new base salary of $700, 000 will be a cut in pay from his old firm, but he will have some lucrative bonus opportunities. If he can make do clipping coupons for three years, he will get a stock package worth $17.2 million, ” reported the web site at the time.

Orsinger joined Synthes in 2004 as chief operating officer after 10 years in management with Novartis. He was promoted to chief executive officer in 2007, when Hansjorg Wyss relinquished that title.