When Institutions Fail to Protect the Vulnerable: Holding a Medical Center Accountable for Patient Safety
Our investigation revealed a major Los Angeles hospital allowed an employee who sexually assaulted a patient to return to work—then leave their employment without consequence, enabling him to be hired at another facility where he assaulted another victim using identical methods.
A Breach of the Most Fundamental Trust
When someone enters a hospital as a patient, they are at their most vulnerable. They’re ill, often in pain, sometimes sedated or confused, and they place their trust in the institution and its employees to provide care while maintaining their dignity and safety.
In September 2021, our client, a 68-year-old woman admitted to a major Los Angeles medical center for severe stomach issues, dehydration, and malnutrition, experienced a violation of that trust in the worst possible way. A Certified Nurse Assistant employed by the hospital sexually assaulted her during what should have been routine patient care.
Our client immediately demanded the assault stop and reported it to the day-shift nurse. The nurse reported it to the Charge Nurse, who reported it to hospital police. The hospital documented the assault. They knew what had happened. They knew who was responsible.
And then they did almost nothing.
The Institution’s Failure
What happened—or rather, what didn’t happen—after our client reported the assault reveals systemic failures in how this medical center handled credible reports of patient abuse.
Despite receiving a clear report of sexual assault by one of their employees against a vulnerable patient, the hospital failed to notify the California Department of Public Health as required by law. This wasn’t a minor administrative oversight—it was a mandatory reporting violation that prevented appropriate regulatory oversight and investigation.
Even more troubling, the CNA who assaulted our client returned to work within 3 to 5 days. He continued in his position with access to vulnerable patients, and eventually left the hospital’s employment. Because the hospital had failed to properly report the assault or take appropriate action, he was able to obtain employment at another medical facility.
On August 15-16, 2022—nearly a year after assaulting our client—he sexually assaulted another patient at this different facility using the exact same methods he had used against our client.
He was arrested on August 16, 2022, and ultimately convicted on February 13, 2024, of two felony counts requiring sex offender registration. The preliminary hearing judge noted that the perpetrator appeared to be targeting women he believed would not be believed—exploiting the vulnerability of patients who might be dismissed due to age, mental state, or illness.
The second assault was preventable. If the hospital had properly reported the first assault, if they had conducted a thorough investigation and terminated the CNA, if they had taken our client’s report with the seriousness it deserved, he would not have been able to simply leave and obtain employment at another medical facility where he had access to vulnerable patients. There would not have been a second victim.
The Challenge: Proving What Large Institutions Want Hidden
When we took on this case, we knew we faced significant challenges. Our client was assaulted while severely ill and vulnerable. The defense would likely attempt to question her credibility or mental state. Large medical institutions have substantial resources and experienced legal teams. They are accustomed to settling cases quietly and moving on.
But we also knew that what happened to our client mattered—not just for her, but for every patient who trusts these institutions to keep them safe.
The key to this case became our investigation into what the hospital did after our client reported the assault. We needed to prove not just that the assault occurred, but that the institution’s response was negligent, that they failed in their duty to protect patients, and that their failures had consequences.
Uncovering the Pattern
Through thorough investigation, we discovered the subsequent assault—the second victim who was attacked by the same CNA nearly a year later after he had left the first hospital and obtained employment at a different medical facility. This discovery was crucial for multiple reasons.
First, it demonstrated a pattern of behavior. This wasn’t an isolated incident or a misunderstanding. The CNA had assaulted multiple victims using identical methods, targeting vulnerable patients in hospital settings.
Second, and more importantly, it proved the direct consequences of the hospital’s failure to act. If they had properly reported the first assault to the California Department of Public Health, if they had terminated the CNA and documented the reasons, if they had taken their mandatory reporting obligations seriously, he would not have been able to obtain employment at another facility with access to vulnerable patients. The second assault would not have occurred. Their failure to act enabled a predator to simply move to another hospital and continue accessing vulnerable patients.
Third, it directly addressed the defense’s anticipated credibility challenges. When the defense attempted to suggest our client’s mental faculties were compromised and her account shouldn’t be trusted, we could point to the second victim, the identical assault methods, the criminal conviction, and the pattern the preliminary hearing judge identified. Our client wasn’t confused or mistaken—she was targeted by a predator the hospital failed to stop.
The criminal conviction on two felony counts further validated our client’s account and established beyond any doubt that the assault occurred.
The Psychological Devastation
Beyond proving institutional negligence, we needed to demonstrate the full impact of this assault on our client’s life.
Our client wasn’t just any patient. She was a successful businesswoman who had owned a medical billing company with over 2,000 clients and had owned an oil company. She had worked her way through a doctoral program. She was accomplished, independent, and driven.
The assault changed everything.
We retained a Ph.D. psychologist who conducted extensive evaluation and treatment—25 to 26 sessions at the expert level. The diagnosis was devastating: PTSD, depression, insomnia, and dissociative disorder, all directly caused by the sexual assault.
The expert’s opinion was clear: our client will never fully recover.
The assault had also triggered past traumas from our client’s history, compounding the psychological damage. She experiences nightmares and cannot sleep through the night. She suffers intrusive thoughts. She has lost her ability to maintain relationships, including with her son. Activities she once enjoyed now feel dreaded and exhausting.
The vibrant, successful woman who had built businesses and earned advanced degrees had been reduced to a reclusive, depressed state. She lost her “spark for life”—her motivation for companionship, her joy in daily activities, her sense of security in the world.
This is what happens when institutions fail to protect the vulnerable. The harm extends far beyond the assault itself. It shatters a person’s sense of safety, their ability to trust, their fundamental belief that they will be protected when they are at their most vulnerable.
Holding Large Institutions Accountable
We approached this case with the care and sensitivity it deserved. Sexual assault cases require not just legal expertise, but understanding of trauma, patience with the psychological impact on clients, and recognition that no settlement can truly undo the harm.
At the same time, we knew that accountability mattered. Large institutions—even prestigious medical centers—are not infallible. When they fail in their duty to protect patients, when they violate mandatory reporting laws, when they allow predators to remain in positions of trust, they must face consequences.
The case proceeded to mediation in May 2024. Both parties agreed to focus the mediation on damages, with discovery stayed by agreement. The defendant medical center confirmed they were self-insured with no policy limits.
In January 2025, the case resolved through a confidential settlement. While we cannot disclose the amount, the settlement provided our client with just compensation—as much as any financial settlement can compensate someone for such profound violation and lasting psychological harm.
More importantly, the case held a major medical institution accountable for failures that enabled a predator to assault multiple patients. It sent a message that hospitals cannot simply ignore patient reports, violate mandatory reporting laws, and allow abusers to continue accessing vulnerable people without consequence.
The Importance of Patient Protection
This case represents something larger than one client’s experience, as devastating as that was. It represents the fundamental duty healthcare institutions owe to their patients.
Hospitals are supposed to be places of healing and safety. Patients in medical facilities are often at their most vulnerable—physically weak, cognitively impaired by illness or medication, unable to defend themselves, and utterly dependent on staff for basic care.
When hospitals employ people in direct patient care roles, they assume responsibility for supervising those employees, responding appropriately to reports of abuse, and protecting patients from harm. This responsibility includes:
- Taking all patient reports of abuse seriously, regardless of the patient’s age, mental state, or circumstances
- Following mandatory reporting laws that exist specifically to protect vulnerable populations and create a record that prevents abusers from simply moving to other facilities
- Immediately removing accused employees from patient contact pending investigation
- Conducting thorough investigations when abuse is reported
- Properly documenting and reporting findings so that employees who abuse patients cannot simply move to another facility and continue the abuse
The failure to meet these obligations doesn’t just harm individual patients—it enables predators to continue operating, putting countless other vulnerable people at risk.
Why These Cases Matter
At Adamson Ahdoot, we handle sensitive cases involving institutional negligence, sexual assault, and abuse of vulnerable populations. These are not easy cases. They require careful handling, deep investigation, understanding of trauma, and willingness to take on large, well-resourced institutions.
But these cases matter profoundly. They matter to our clients who deserve justice and validation. They matter to other potential victims who may be protected when institutions are held accountable. And they matter to the broader community that depends on healthcare institutions to maintain the highest standards of patient safety.
Large institutions are not above scrutiny. Their size, reputation, and resources do not exempt them from their duty to protect patients. When they fail in that duty—when they ignore reports, violate laws, and enable abusers—they must face accountability.
The extra care we take with these cases, the thorough investigation to uncover patterns and evidence, the sensitivity to our clients’ psychological needs, and the willingness to pursue justice even against powerful institutions—this is what ensures that vulnerable people have advocates when institutions fail them.
When Healthcare Institutions Fail Their Patients
If you or a loved one has experienced abuse, assault, or neglect in a medical facility or other institution’s facilities, you deserve to be heard and believed. Your account matters, regardless of your age, health status, or circumstances at the time.
These cases require:
- Thorough investigation to uncover institutional failures and patterns
- Expert psychological evaluation to document trauma and ongoing impact
- Understanding of mandatory reporting laws and healthcare facility obligations
- Sensitivity to the deeply personal nature of sexual assault cases
- Willingness to hold powerful institutions accountable
No settlement can undo the harm of sexual assault or institutional betrayal. But accountability matters—both for individual healing and for protecting others from similar harm.
Your experience deserves to be taken seriously, investigated thoroughly, and addressed with the care and respect these sensitive matters require.
This case resolved with a confidential settlement in January 2025. Per settlement agreement provisions, parties have been anonymized and settlement terms remain confidential. This article presents the case in general terms without disclosing specific parties, settlement amounts, or detailed terms.
About Adamson Ahdoot LLP
Adamson Ahdoot LLP is a personal injury law firm based in Los Angeles, serving clients throughout California. Our attorneys handle sensitive cases involving institutional negligence, sexual assault, abuse of vulnerable populations, and medical facility liability requiring thorough investigation and compassionate client advocacy.
Contact us for a free consultation: (866) 645-4992