Employee-patient allegedly photographed during surgery files suit against Washington Hospital and others
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An employee of Washington Hospital who had an operation at her workplace filed a complaint in Washington County Court against the institution, a doctor and several co-workers in connection with photos of her private parts that allegedly were taken and later shared.
The plaintiff, identified only as Jane Doe, worked as a unit secretary in the operating room department. She filed a writ against multiple defendants in October, then followed up with a 39-page complaint earlier this month.
In September 2016, Jane Doe was a patient in the operating room “for incisional hernia surgery. … As (she) lay unconscious on the operating table,” a scrub nurse is alleged to have used a cellphone to photograph Jane Doe’s exposed genitals.
The doctor, Dennis Brown, and several others present did not stop the scrub nurse from photographing the patient, nor did they report her conduct, Jane Doe alleges.
The introduction of a cellphone into the sterile operating room placed Jane Doe at an increased risk for infection, and “an investigation by the state Department of Health revealed that the presence of cellphones in the operating room was pervasive at the hospital,” claims the suit filed by Kenneth J. Hardin II of Pittsburgh.
When Jane Doe returned to work from medical leave at the end of October, she said the scrub nurse showed her the photographs.
The following day, Jane Doe learned the scrub nurse had shown the photos to co-workers, the suit alleges.
“In utter horror and shock,” Jane Doe reported the scrub nurse’s conduct to her supervisors, and the scrub nurse was fired, according to the lawsuit.
Jane Doe, however, claims the hospital failed to protect her from “an increasingly hostile and abusive work environment,” and she said in the suit she was forced to endure shame and humiliation knowing her co-workers had seen pictures of her private parts or knew such pictures existed and were circulated.
According to the complaint, Jane Doe “was now being treated like the wrongdoer – not the victim – and was forced to endure harassment, humiliation and backlash” from her co-workers.
The suit said “extreme hostility” against Jane Doe became worse, culminating in her receiving a handwritten note that read, “What were you thinking?” and called her a crude name. She took time off and reportedly was told in November she was being given paid time off for approximately two weeks for “well-being” and as a “healing period.”
She returned to her previous job, claiming the hospital did not find another unit where she could work. Migraines, anxiety and insomnia for which she sought medical treatment then added to Jane Doe’s problems, and her primary care physician recommended she take a three-month leave of absence, which was denied, she stated in the complaint.
She then took unpaid leave under the Family Medical Leave Act, and the hospital terminated her employment in October 2017, the suit said.
Jane Doe claims the harassment by her former co-workers is continuing outside the hospital.
“The dissemination of the pictures has stigmatized (Jane Doe),” the suit states.
She also claims invasion of privacy and alleges Brown was negligent for failing to prevent or report the conduct of the scrub nurse who allegedly took the photographs. A call to a number listed for Brown reached a recording saying the number was no longer in service.
Her husband, identified as John Doe, also is a plaintiff in the suit, suing the same group of defendants for loss of consortium.
Jane Doe states that she suffered severe physical, emotional and psychological stress, that steps have not been taken to prevent future harassment and that the hospital’s attorney has “repeatedly ignored” Doe’s attorney’s request to mediate the issues.
The couple has requested a jury trial and damages exceeding $75,000 on several counts.
Diana Fancher, the hospital’s vice president of compliance and risk management, returned a message left for Gary Weinstein, hospital president, who was named as a defendant.
“As you know, we can’t make any comment about this,” Fancher said Tuesday.
No trial date has been set.