Portland jury finds against ambulance company for sex abuse by its paramedic
Congratulations to my friends at Greg Kafoury, Mark MacDougal and the rest of their team for obtaining a multi-million dollar verdict on behalf of a patient who was sexually abused by an EMT.
According to this report in The Oregonian, the Portland jury returned a verdict totaling $2.25 million against American Medical Response amublance company. The jury apparently concluded that American Medical Response knew or had reason to know that its EMT, Lannie Haszard, might have sexually abused patients.
The news report explains that three women had complained to police and the company about prior sex abuse incidents. I imagine that the evidence of prior complaints had a major impact on the jury.
These cases are particularly challenging, especially for the victim who must come forward and rehash the events in the litigation and at trial. I’m appreciative that she found the strenght to do so and that the jury listened to the evidence and set the standard for our community.
David Sugerman