A victim filed a multi-million-dollar sexual assault lawsuit against a nurse practitioner and a clinic in El Paso, Texas.
The victim alleges the nurse practitioner engaged in repeated acts of sexual misconduct against them during medical treatment - non-consensual physical contact under the guise of medical care. The victim's identity remains confidential.
The clinic is also named in the lawsuit as a defendant for allegedly failing to supervise the practitioner adequately and for not implementing safeguards to prevent such abuse.
The victim alleges this case is part of a broader pattern of institutional negligence and is seeking substantial damages for the emotional and physical trauma endured.
Source: https://www.8newsnow.com/business/press-releases/cision/20241122DA64015/potts-law-firm-multi-million-dollar-lawsuit-for-sexual-assault-filed-against-el-paso-nurse-practitioner-and-clinic/
Commentary
A claim of negligent supervision arises when an employer or organization is alleged to have failed in its duty to reasonably monitor and control the actions of its employees, resulting in harm to another person.
In the context of healthcare, this typically means that a clinic or hospital did not adequately oversee a staff member - such as a nurse, doctor, or technician - who then engaged in misconduct, such as sexual assault or other forms of abuse.
To prove negligent supervision, a plaintiff must generally establish four key elements:
(1) the employer had a duty to supervise the employee;
(2) the employer breached that duty by failing to exercise reasonable care in supervision;
(3) the employee's misconduct was foreseeable or could have been prevented with proper oversight; and
(4) the plaintiff suffered harm as a direct result of the employer's failure to supervise.
Evidence might include prior complaints about the employee, lack of background checks, absence of policies or training, or failure to act on warning signs.
Healthcare organizations can take several proactive steps to prevent such claims. These include implementing rigorous hiring and credentialing processes, conducting thorough background checks, providing regular training on professional conduct and patient boundaries, establishing clear reporting mechanisms for misconduct, and ensuring that supervisory staff actively monitor clinical interactions.
