Prankster dentist wins case against insurer (Implanted boar tusks in assistant's mouth)

OLYMPIA, WASHINGTON: An oral surgeon who played a practical joke on his assistant by implanting fake boar tusks in her mouth while she was under anesthesia was sued for it, but ended up getting a last laugh.

Dr. Robert Woo, who is originally from Hong Kong, took photos of her porcine dental work that later made the rounds. The employee, Tina Alberts, felt humiliated and quit, later suing her boss.

When Woo's insurance company, Fireman's Fund, would not deal with the lawsuit, Woo settled out of court with Alberts for $250,000 - and sued the insurers. A Superior Court jury agreed with him and awarded him $750,000, plus the out-of-court settlement he had paid.

The insurance company won the next round, with the state Court of Appeals saying the prank had nothing to do with Woo's practice of dentistry and that the carrier had no duty to represent him in the lawsuit. But the state Supreme Court on Thursday restored the award for Woo.

The backstory, the court said, is that Alberts' family raises potbellied pigs and that she frequently talked about them at the office where she worked for five years. ``Woo made several offensive comments about her pigs,'' the court said. Woo later said that his jest was part of ``a friendly working environment'' he fostered in the office.

One day when Woo was performing oral surgery on Alberts to replace two teeth with implants, he installed temporary bridges that he had shaped to look like boar tusks. While she was still under anesthesia, he took photos, some with her eyes propped open. Before she woke up, Woo removed the ``tusks'' and put in the proper replacement teeth.

Woo says he did not personally show her the pictures, thinking them too ugly, but that staffers gave her copies at her birthday party. Stunned, she went home and never went back to work. Woo tried to apologize; Alberts did not respond.

Soon, though, she sued, alleging ``outrage, battery, invasion of privacy'' and so forth. Fireman's told Woo his policy did not cover such claims and declined to pay for his defense. The practical joke was intentional and not a normal business activity, the insurers said.

Woo was delighted with the ruling, said his lawyer, Richard Kilpatrick, who described Woo as a kindhearted and fun-loving man who was chagrined that an office prank involving him and three other women staffers turned out so badly.