Woman suing hospital after alleged sexual assault by nursing assistant
A former Eisenhower Medical Center nursing assistant is facing sexual assault charges and the woman he allegedly assaulted is suing the hospital.
According to court documents and the victim’s lawyer a woman says she was sexually assaulted twice by a nursing assistant while recovering from surgery and under the influence of morphine
Gil Ernesto Lopez, 48, is charged with three felonies in this case.
The woman says she was admitted to Eisenhower last August because of a bacterial infection after a surgery. Her lawyer says she was asleep and under the influence of morphine when Lopez began sexually assaulting her in her hospital bed.
According to the complaint, she woke up and asked him to stop. Lopez went into a bathroom before returning to assault her again. The victim then made reports with the hospital and the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
Lopez initially denied any sexual contact occurred but changed his story in October when he told the Sheriff’s Department in a second interview that the contact was consensual. According to the victim’s lawyer, Lopez was allowed to work at Eisenhower for three months after admitting the sexual contact in October. Lopez was arrested in January 2016.
“We can only surmise that they didn’t know what they were doing they didn’t monitor the situation,” said Owen McIntosh, the victim’s lawyer. “They didn’t understand the complexity or the fact that this gentleman, and I use that term loosely, this individual, had admitted the conduct. They simply didn’t know and didn’t care,” said McIntosh.
Representatives with Eisenhower sent a statement to KESQ and CBS Local 2:
“The safety of our patients is Eisenhower Medical Center’s top priority. In response to the incident that occurred in August 2015 , the hospital followed its policy by removing the employee, cooperating fully with law enforcement in its investigation, and self-reporting to the California Department of Public Health. Additionally, when CDPH investigated the matter, they reviewed the patient’s medical record and spoke with staff, and determined there were no deficiencies. Currently, the matter is being litigated and all parties are represented by counsel. Per hospital policy, we do not comment on current litigation.”
Lopez’s criminal defense attorney says the contact between his client and the victim was consensual.
“The evidence will show that my client is an innocent man who has been falsely accused, and this is nothing more than a fishing expedition to go after the deep pockets and to use my client to springboard to get a monetary judgment in this case,” said Boskey Kathuria, the lawyer who is defending Lopez in the criminal case.
Kathuria says he can prove that the victim has made similar accusations in the past.
“If you were to dig a little bit beyond the surface and do a little bit of investigation on the background of this accuser, you will find that there are multiple convictions of fraudulent crimes and crimes of moral turpitude,” Kathuria said.
A preliminary hearing for Lopez is scheduled for July 8. The victim’s lawyer would not give a specific amount for damages they are going to seek at this point but it’s expected to be a number north of $2 million.
