UPDATE 3-AdaptHealth says terminated appointment contract for incoming CEO
(Updates Linde's statement in paragraph 6)
Sept 20 (Reuters) - AdaptHealth said on Wednesday it had mutually agreed with recently appointed CEO Crispin Teufel to terminate his employment contract, weeks after the executive was sued by his former employer Linde.
Teufel was appointed in June and was due to start at AdaptHealth in September.
However, Linde in August sued to block Teufel's appointment for an unspecified time, in a bid to protect confidential information and trade secrets.
AdaptHealth was not named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
Teufel had served as CEO of Linde's unit Lincare, a rival to AdaptHealth and a provider of sleep apnea therapy and other respiratory care.
Linde declined to comment on the matter.
In a regulatory filing in late August, AdaptHealth had disclosed that the Connecticut district court had put a temporary restraining order on Teufel's appointment.
Under the court's order, Teufel was not permitted to commence his role at AdaptHealth until Oct. 15. The court also scheduled another hearing on Oct. 18 for the case.
AdaptHealth said its Chairman Richard Barasch will continue to serve as interim CEO until a successor has been appointed.
The company will resume working with an executive search firm to appoint a new CEO.
Shares of the U.S. respiratory equipment provider were down marginally in early trading hours.
(Reporting by Bhanvi Satija in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
