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Saturday, March 05, 2005
Ind. Decisions - Doctor must pay in bullying case
"Doctor must pay in bullying case: Heart surgeon owes a former co-worker $325,000 to cover lost wages, jury says" is the headline to this story today by Eric Martin in the Indianapolis Star. Some quotes:
In a potentially landmark case involving workplace bullying, a jury in Marion Superior Court on Friday ordered St. Francis Hospital's chief heart surgeon, Dr. Daniel H. Raess, to pay a former hospital employee $325,000.The award to Joseph E. Doescher, 44, stemmed from a Nov. 2, 2001, confrontation between the two men during which Raess was accused of screaming and lunging toward Doescher.
Doescher worked at the hospital as a perfusionist, operating equipment that oxygenates the blood during surgery.
The jury declined to award additional punitive damages against Raess in what one expert said was the first workplace bullying case in history.
In his closing statement, Doescher's attorney Kevin Betz of Betz & Associates, Indianapolis, asked the jury to award his client $324,000 in lost wages and suggested the jury award a greater sum for pain and suffering. * * *
Attorney Scott Bunnell of Hunt Suedhoff Kalamaros in Fort Wayne, one of two firms retained by Raess, said his client would decide next week whether to take further action in the case. As he entered the elevator to leave the City-County Building, Raess turned and said, "We plan a vigorous appeal."
The award represents more than 11/2 year's salary for Raess, who in testimony said he expects to earn $210,000 in 2005 from St. Francis, a Roman Catholic nonprofit hospital in Beech Grove.
This is the first time a workplace bullying case has been heard in the United States, according to Gary Namie, director of the Workplace Bullying & Trauma Institute in Bellingham, Wash. Namie testified on behalf of Doescher.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 5, 2005 11:16 AM
Posted to Ind. Trial Ct. Decisions