Jury tells Jefferson to pay $15 million to former Rothman surgeon in sex discrimination case

A federal jury on Monday awarded $15 million to former Rothman Orthopaedic Institute surgeon John Abraham after jurors found Thomas Jefferson University conducted a gender-biased investigation into rape allegations against him and interfered with his contract with Rothman.

The multimillion-dollar award came after a jury of five women and three men found Jefferson liable last week on two counts: The university violated a federal law, known as Title IX, by treating Abraham unequally because he is male while investigating a former medical resident’s allegations that he raped her during a pool party at his Main Line home. Jefferson’s discriminatory actions caused Abraham to lose his financial contract with Rothman, where he had been a partner with a faculty appointment at the university.

Abraham’s case is likely to draw national attention in the realm of Title IX law, which requires universities that receive federal funds to maintain a learning environment free of sex discrimination.

To arrive at the $15 million sum, the jury awarded Abraham $11 million to compensate him for financial losses and an additional $4 million in punitive damages for “outrageous conduct” that caused emotional distress and harm to his reputation.

After the win in U.S. District Court, Abraham hugged each of his lawyers. “We’re just happy. That’s all. Happy for John,” said Lane Jubb Jr., one of Abraham’s lawyers.

Jefferson is considering its options to appeal, according to spokesperson Deana Gamble. In a statement emailed to The Inquirer, Gamble added, “We are disappointed in the jury’s verdict and continue to believe Jefferson treated both parties fairly and equitably in this matter between a faculty member and a resident physician learner.”

Juror member William Mapstone, a 55-year-old chef who lives outside of Philadelphia, said he voted in Abraham’s favor largely because Jefferson’s leadership had no interest in listening to anything Abraham had to say in the days after the June 2018 pool party. Mapstone also noted that Jefferson’s lawyers never said anything about what the university had done or would “plan on doing to make sure Title IX works better for both ends.”

Beginning at 11:10 a.m. on Monday, the jury deliberated for two and a half hours, weighing how much money Abraham lost in actual income and potential earnings after he was forced out of Jefferson. The jury also considered harm to his career and reputation after Rothman fired him last year. Rothman did not renew Abraham’s contract because he allegedly failed to meet a requirement as a partner to bring in $1.3 million in annual revenue. Abraham said he performed about 400 to 500 surgeries at Jefferson each year prior to his resignation in December 2018.

In his closing statement, Jubb Jr., Abraham’s lawyer, told jurors that Jefferson should be financially punished as a lesson not to harm others in the future.

“Maybe if [the damages amount] is large enough, they’ll actually acknowledge that things need to change,” Jubb Jr. said.

Jefferson’s lawyer, Lisa Lori, asked jurors to take into account how a large damages award could set back its mission as a nonprofit educational institution and hospital. “Jefferson exists to save lives,” Lori said in her closing. “They don’t exist to make money.”

With 17 hospitals and 10 colleges, Jefferson is the second largest employer in the Philadelphia region, according to testimony from Jefferson’s chief financial officer, John Mordach. Each year, its hospitals treat 600,000 patients in its emergency departments, care for 200,000 hospital patients, and treat 6 million people at its clinics. He also said Jefferson has $3.6 billion in debt.

“We’ve lost money the last two years. We’ve lost money, you can go back, years and years. It’s not a sustainable position. We have a weakened position,” Mordach said.

The sex discrimination case originated from a June 23, 2018, pool party that Abraham held annually at his home in Gladwyne to thank Jefferson’s orthopedic residents and hospital staff for their hard work.

Shortly after the party, a medical resident in attendance, Jessica Phillips, contacted the residency program director for Jefferson and Rothman. Through sobs, Phillips told the residency director that she awoke in Abraham’s bed the morning after the party naked, frightened, and covered in bruises with no memory of the evening.

In response, Jefferson initiated a Title IX complaint against Abraham. Under federal Title IX law, an academic institution such as Jefferson, which receives federal funds, is required to investigate allegations of sex discrimination, including sexual assault and sexual misconduct.

Abraham’s federal civil rights case did not center on what happened at the party, but how Jefferson handled the allegations in the party’s aftermath. In addition to opening the Title IX investigation, Abraham’s lawyers argued that Jefferson’s leadership threatened to report him to a national database that tracks doctor sexual misconduct if he did not take a leave of absence in late June 2018. Rothman suspended Abraham with pay and locked him out of its offices.

Abraham’s lawyers argued that he told several Jefferson leaders that Phillips acted as the aggressor. Those leaders were required to report Abraham’s allegations to its Title IX office and equally investigate her claims and his, Abraham’s lawyers told jurors.

However, Jefferson officials did not investigate his claims. They had already formed an opinion, doubting that a female student, a second-year resident training as an orthopedic surgeon, could sexually assault a male professor and attending doctor, Abraham’s lawyers argued.

» READ MORE: The quiet handling of rape allegations by Jefferson and Rothman's leadership

In making their case, Abraham’s lawyers presented jurors with a document trail. Days after the Title IX investigation began, Abraham emailed an investigator and agreed to tell his side. Then he learned that Phillips filed a criminal complaint against him with Lower Merion police detectives. He had one of his lawyers write to the investigator to say that he couldn’t sit for an interview until the criminal case resolved.

In late September 2018, Abraham’s lawyer wrote to Jefferson Title IX coordinator Zoe Gingold as the university’s investigation neared completion and asked the university for “a short extension.”

“We believe the criminal matter is nearing completion, and in the event Dr. Abraham is not criminally charged, then he will immediately give an interview to the Title IX investigators,” wrote Judson Aaron, then a lawyer for Abraham.

Jefferson declined Aaron’s request. In an Oct. 3, 2018, letter to Aaron, shown to jurors, Gingold noted that the Title IX investigation had started four months earlier. Without knowing when the criminal investigation would end and its outcome, she said the university was obligated to promptly “bring the matter to resolution.”

“Jefferson’s investigators have offered Dr. Abraham numerous opportunities to participate in the investigation,” Gingold responded to Aaron.

Jefferson completed its Title IX investigation in October 2018 without reaching any conclusion, but Gingold believed there was enough evidence to merit a hearing.

Montgomery County prosecutors closed the criminal investigation without any charges against Abraham in November 2018. At the time, police detectives had grappled with an alleged sexual assault in which Phillips and Abraham were the only witnesses.

Jefferson fought in court for two years to keep its 58-page Title IX report confidential, arguing that the report was protected under attorney-client privilege. But Abraham and Phillips ultimately won the right to see it earlier this year.

During the trial, Jefferson’s lawyers said Abraham could have told his side at a Title IX hearing, but chose to resign instead.

Abraham said he had to resign, rather than appear at a hearing. Jefferson’s leadership, including one of its top lawyers, had indicated that he would likely be found culpable at a hearing, Abraham testified.

The Title IX case is one of several legal actions taken by Abraham over the fallout from the party. In June 2019, Abraham sued Phillips for defamation and libel in Philadelphia’s Court of Common Pleas. She countersued for assault and battery. That case settled in May of this year, with neither side winning monetary damages.

Abraham currently has legal action pending against Rothman. That case is expected to be heard before a three-panel arbitration board in the spring.