A $17 million verdict awarded to a former University of California Irvine (UCI) doctor by an Orange County (OC) jury sends a message to "behave," according to the physician’s attorneys.
“We were honest,” said plaintiff Gareth Forde’s attorney, Anne Schneider. “We relayed the facts and I think those qualities are rare in this day and age, and they shine through. People recognize that.”
A special verdict form file stamped on Oct. 6 in Gareth Forde v. The Regents of the University of California, Dr. Robert Bristow, Dr. Leslie Randall, and Dr. Krishnansu Tewari shows that the jury believed Dr. Forde was subjected to unwarranted harassing conduct by his supervisor Dr. Tewari due to his gender while employed in an OBGYN Oncology Fellowship Program at the university.
“Our strategy was to just put the case before the jury in a clear way,” said attorney Benjamin Fenton who worked with Schneider in representing Forde. “We had a lot of confidence in the jury. We think they paid close attention to the trial and to the evidence.”
The special verdict form also shows that the jury believed the harassment Dr. Forde experienced was severe and pervasive enough for him to consider the work environment abusive or hostile.
“He's looking forward to putting it behind him,” Fenton told the Southern California Record. “It's been a long process.”
Dr. Forde also alleged wrongful termination after he reported billing practices related to Medicare and Medicaid that he thought were improper, according to media reports.
“There are three causes of action that we proceeded on,” Fenton added. “Two of the causes of action went before the jury, and we got a jury verdict on those two causes of action. There is a third cause of action, which legally is, in California, decided by a judge, not by a jury. So, that has not been adjudicated, which also has to do with retaliation.”
The final claim is currently pending before OC Superior Court Judge Glenn Salter but is not expected to interfere with the $17 million jury award.
“There is a possibility for appeal,” Schneider told the Southern California Record. “We can't read their minds on the other side. So, we can't anticipate.”
Half of the $17 million is for economic damages and the other half is for non-economic damages, according to the jury verdict form, such as pain and suffering.
Fenton declined to comment when asked to disclose attorney’s fees except to say, "We can’t because that’s confidential.”