LegalReader.com  ·  Legal News, Analysis, & Commentary

News & Politics

City of Sacramento Hit with $1M Medical Malpractice Claim After Woman was Allegedly Fondled


— January 5, 2018

The city of Sacramento was recently slapped with a $1 million lawsuit after a 19-year-old woman was allegedly fondled by a paramedic while “she was unresponsive, strapped to a gurney and being taken to a hospital in an ambulance after suffering a seizure.” According to the woman, whose name is not being disclosed at this time, she suffered a seizure back on April 1, 2017, “and was taken to the Kaiser Permanente hospital in south Sacramento by a Sacramento Fire Department ambulance.”


The city of Sacramento was recently slapped with a $1 million medical malpractice lawsuit after a 19-year-old woman was allegedly fondled by a paramedic while “she was unresponsive, strapped to a gurney and being taken to a hospital in an ambulance after suffering a seizure.” According to the woman, whose name is not being disclosed at this time, she suffered a seizure back on April 1, 2017, “and was taken to the Kaiser Permanente hospital in south Sacramento by a Sacramento Fire Department ambulance.”

Unfortunately, when she was in an already vulnerable situation, she was taken advantage of by someone who was supposed to take care of her. But what happened, exactly? Well, according to a paramedic intern who happened to be in the ambulance when the incident occurred, the paramedic, Jared David Evans, “motioned to the woman’s breasts as she lay strapped to a gurney and said ‘take a look.’” According to the arrest warrant issued for his arrest, Evans “then placed his hand down the front of V-Doe’s (the victim’s) shirt and pulled her breast out of the top of her shirt/bra and said, ‘those are some big ass nipples.’” From there, he allegedly “turned to the intern and said, ‘Sorry man, I had to,” according to police.

Image of a Medical Malpractice Hearing Form
Medical Malpractice Hearing Form; Image Courtesy of Medical News Today, https://www.medicalnewstoday.com

But if the woman was unresponsive, how did she know what happened to her? For starters, the woman claims to have been aware of what was happening to her. In an interview with detectives, she said “her eyes were closed and she could not move while in the ambulance, but she was able to hear what the paramedics were saying.” Additionally, “she felt a hand pull her breast out of her shirt, but did not see who touched her.” According to the police report, she added that while it could have been the intern who touched her, “she would have felt the arm of the paramedic seated at her head (Evans) come over her shoulder if he was the one that touched her.”

So how has Evans responded to the allegations? Well, back on April 28, 2017, he was interviewed by detectives about the incident and denied all the allegations. Later, he was “arrested and charged with misdemeanor sexual battery” and is scheduled to appear in court on January 16 in Sacramento Superior Court. For now, he’s “facing up to six months in jail,” though his attorney, Brandon Erickson, is optimistic that Evans will be exonerated by a jury.

As for the victim, her attorney, Alex Gortinsky, said she is still struggling to overcome her ordeal and “remains in psychological treatment since the incident.” Gortinsky added, “She still feels akin to a rape victim…She still hasn’t quite been able to overcome the situation of what happened to her.”

The city has not responded to the complaint, and a spokeswoman for the Sacramento said “the city does not comment on pending claims.”

Sources:

Woman seeks $1 million after paramedic allegedly fondled her while she was unresponsive

Woman Seeks $1M After Paramedic Allegedly Fondled Her

Join the conversation!