Microsoft says Community Health Systems misused software

What's more, the March 15 filing says, the parent company of Lutheran Health Network failed to allow an independent auditor to review its use of Microsoft products.

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee but made public Wednesday by Becker's Hospital Review, an online source of health care industry news.

Microsoft said in the 23-page filing that its volume licensing program works with customers employing 500 or more workers. That program's standard contract provides Microsoft the right to have an independent auditor verify that the customer is complying with copyright and licensing agreements.

The agreement forbids unauthorized sharing of Microsoft products. Customers are not allowed to “distribute, sublicense, rent, lease, lend or host any Microsoft software,” the filing says.

According to the lawsuit, “CHS intentionally facilitated the continued use of Microsoft software by” previous CHS subsidiaries or affiliates that were sold as part of the divestiture program CHS implemented in 2015 to pay down debt.