Dignity Health must pay $35 million after a jury found it liable for a former nurse’s sexual assault of a patient.<\/p>\n
SACRAMENTO, Calif. \u2014 Dignity Health in Sacramento will have to pay $35 million after a jury found the hospital liable for a patient being sexually assaulted by a former nurse.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe jury\u2019s verdict sends a clear message that hospitals must protect their most vulnerable patients from harm,\u201d said Natalie Weatherford, one of the attorneys with Taylor and Ring. \u201cThe plaintiff has suffered immensely, and the jury\u2019s verdict is the final step in her journey towards beginning to heal.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to a news release from the law firm, the 41-year-old woman was admitted to the Methodist Hospital in Sacramento after suffering a pulmonary embolism and was taken to the ICU and intubated. She wasn’t able to physically move her body or talk but she was alert.<\/p>\n
The law firm said Gregory Allen Harms was assigned to her while she was in the ICU for three consecutive nights in 2016 and raped her in her hospital bed, while she was unable to move or speak.<\/p>\n
The woman, in 2017, saw Harms on the news after he was arrested and accused of raping another patient at a different hospital in Folsom. She called the Sacramento Police Department, who told her two other victims came forward alleging he sexually assaulted them while they were incapacitated, according to the law firm. The allegations against Harms date back to 2011.<\/p>\n
The $35 million verdict includes $20 million in punitive damages, with the law firm saying the jury also found the hospital was negligent in failing to protect Jane Doe from sexual abuse, failed to investigate her reports of abuse and failed to discipline the person responsible.<\/p>\n
The law firm said Harms was convicted of several felonies related to his abuse of female patients and is currently serving a 28-year prison sentence.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are very proud of this brave plaintiff for standing up to the hospital that failed to protect her,\u201d said John Taylor, another attorney with Taylor and Ring. \u201cTrials like these protect the community and make hospitals safer for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
In response to an inquiry from ABC10, Dignity Health provided the following statement: “At Methodist Hospital, the well-being of our patients is our central mission. Due to privacy laws, we are unable to comment on litigation.”<\/p>\n
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