$15M Jury Award to Doctor Who Claimed Anti-Male Bias in University Finding He Had Committed Sexual Assault

From the Philadelphia Inquirer (Wendy Ruderman) Thursday:

A federal jury found Thursday that Thomas Jefferson University conducted a gender-biased investigation into allegations that former Rothman Orthopaedic Institute surgeon John Abraham raped a former medical resident.

After a four-day civil trial in U.S. District Court, jurors determined that Jefferson's leadership violated Abraham's civil rights by discriminating against him as a male and intentionally interfered with his ability to earn money as a Rothman surgeon and partner….

The case hinged on whether jurors believed that Jefferson's leadership ignored Abraham's claims that a second-year resident in Jefferson's orthopedic program aggressively pursued sex with him at a June 2018 pool party that he hosted at his Main Line home.

Under Title IX, Jefferson was obligated to investigate Abraham's allegations, which he said he relayed to multiple Jefferson officials. He claimed the resident, Jessica Phillips, got him so drunk that he was unable to consent to sex and tried to resist, his lawyers argued….

"We're not saying there was any sort of physical pinning-him-down type stuff, but when he says, 'Wait a minute, this is a bad idea. No, knock it off,' that's a withdrawal of consent. That's enough under the misconduct policy," Abraham's lawyer, Lane Jubb Jr., told jurors during his closing statement. "How is it that gender didn't play a role when Dr. Phillips is permitted to continue her residency, continue her education with leniency? Can you imagine if that was a man at that party?"

Phillips said she woke up in Abraham's bed the morning after the party naked, disoriented, and covered in bruises. She said Abraham sexually assaulted her and filed a criminal complaint against him in early July 2018. Montgomery County prosecutors closed their investigation with no charges about four months later….

Abraham, a former associate professor at Jefferson, didn't dispute during the trial that he "made a mistake" when he had sex with Phillips. She was a subordinate required to complete a rotation under him in the hospital's orthopedic oncology department to finish her training.

His legal case focused on the actions subsequently taken by Jefferson ….

The whole article is quite interesting; it was written before the damages verdict, though, which came in today at $15 million. Plaintiff is represented by Lane Jubb and Andrew Marth (The Beasley Firm, LLC).