Skip to comments.
Prankster dentist wins case against insurer (Implanted boar tusks in assistant's mouth)
The Times of India ^
| July 27, 2007
Posted on 07/27/2007 11:57:11 AM PDT by Stoat
Prankster dentist wins case against insurer 27 Jul 2007, 0733 hrs IST , AP
![](http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/images/spacer.gif)
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.
|
|
|
TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events; US: Washington
KEYWORDS: boartusks; dentist; dentistry; injustice; insurance; judiciary; robertwoo; teeth; tinaalberts; tusks; washington
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20, 21-40, 41-60, 61-67 next last
To: Stoat
Woo says he did not personally show her the pictures, thinking them too ugly, but that staffers gave her copies at her birthday party I find it odd that this dentist found the pictures too ugly to show the her but did not have a problem showing her co workers not to mention giving them copies.
This is just too stupid for words.
Especially given how quickly such pictures can spread on the internet.
41
posted on
07/27/2007 12:30:42 PM PDT
by
Pontiac
(Patriotism is the natural consequence of having a free mind in a free society.)
To: theDentist
42
posted on
07/27/2007 12:31:06 PM PDT
by
Stoat
(Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
To: Stoat
I would have been incredibly ticked off and would have quit. But would I have sued him?I think the discussion of the employee/patient is not the real point here.
She sued the doctor for his intentional behavior, not for negligent dentistry.
The dentist's malpractice insurance covers his possible negligence, not his intentional acts. This is true for all malpractice insurance policies, and is a matter of general public policy regarding insurance -- you can't insure yourself for your intentional wrongful acts, only negligence.
The insurance company, once it learned the facts, was therefore correct in its determination that it was not obligated to defend him against her claims, nor to reimburse him for the amount he -- and he alone - agreed to pay in settlement.
He then turned around and sued his insurance company for failing to represent him and indemnify him, but the insurance company was CORRECT in denying that coverage.
Now a jury has made an clearly incorrect decision to stick the insurance company with responsibility, because it's easy for a lawyer to draw on jury's hatred of insurance companies. This is what made, i.e., John Edwards who he is as well.
The action of the jury here just underscores how messed up our tort law system is.
43
posted on
07/27/2007 12:31:55 PM PDT
by
WL-law
To: Red in Blue PA
It’s totally inappropriate. The man is supposed to be a professional, and it was totally inappropriate for him to fool with someone under anesthesia in order to make her look ridiculous.
It’s not like she was drunk. She trusted him to give her professional care. He betrayed that trust.
Any professional that does this, well, to me his judgement is extremely suspect. I would not use him. And I wouldn’t work for him either. I would want him in some way censured by a professional board.
44
posted on
07/27/2007 12:32:07 PM PDT
by
I still care
("Remember... for it is the doom of men that they forget" - Merlin, from Excalibur)
To: WL-law
Agreed; all excellent and true points.
45
posted on
07/27/2007 12:33:53 PM PDT
by
Stoat
(Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
To: GeorgiaDawg32
I used to fix whatever went wrong in an office complex, there a few side benefits to repairing floor outlets.
46
posted on
07/27/2007 12:40:04 PM PDT
by
Old Professer
(The critic writes with rapier pen, dips it twice, and writes again.)
To: doodad
47
posted on
07/27/2007 12:40:54 PM PDT
by
brytlea
(amnesty--an act of clemency by an authority by which pardon is granted esp. to a group of individual)
To: Stoat
I think the dentist should lose his license. I think this is horrible. You do not take advantage of people like this when they are under your care and knocked out. It is a trust issue. Just the fact that he took pics of her without her permission is bad enough. Add to that the fact that he fooled around with her person, makes it even worse. If he would have made up the implants with boars tusks on them but not installed them, only showed them to the patient as a joke, that’s as far as I think it should have gone. Putting them in her mouth and taking a pic is crossing the line.
To: brytlea
I would have reported him to whatever professional org. dentists belong to, and I would also have trumpeted his unprofessional conduct far and wideAgreed. Maintaining the dignity of patients at all times is one of the foundations to all healthcare. I do prehospital emergency medicine, and there are all sorts of things that we do in order to protect our patients such as shielding female patients from public view when performing CPR or other invasive or potentially embarrassing procedures.
I would have absolutely no problem in having this dentist's professional license revoked. He cannot be trusted to maintain a patient's dignity.
49
posted on
07/27/2007 12:47:51 PM PDT
by
Stoat
(Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
To: Stoat
Re: I would have been incredibly ticked off and would have quit. But would I have sued him? No actual, physical harm was done
So what is to stop him from doing this again and again????
50
posted on
07/27/2007 12:48:00 PM PDT
by
Red in Blue PA
(Truth : Liberals :: Kryptonite : Superman)
To: Stoat; theDentist
Some folks just have no sense of humor ...
51
posted on
07/27/2007 12:49:03 PM PDT
by
Liberty Valance
(Keep a simple manner for a happy life :o)
To: mamelukesabre
I think the dentist should lose his license. I think this is horrible. You do not take advantage of people like this when they are under your care and knocked out. It is a trust issue. Just the fact that he took pics of her without her permission is bad enough. Add to that the fact that he fooled around with her person, makes it even worse. If he would have made up the implants with boars tusks on them but not installed them, only showed them to the patient as a joke, thats as far as I think it should have gone. Putting them in her mouth and taking a pic is crossing the line.Agreed on all points. But, is it a matter that's worth $250.K to the wronged assistant and $750.K to the dentist?
This sort of thing is one of the reasons why healthcare and all health insurance is so very expensive.
52
posted on
07/27/2007 12:52:10 PM PDT
by
Stoat
(Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
To: Red in Blue PA
Re: I would have been incredibly ticked off and would have quit. But would I have sued him? No actual, physical harm was done
So what is to stop him from doing this again and again????
His professional license should be revoked. He should never be allowed to practice dentistry again, because he has demonstrated a completely unprofessional, cavalier attitude toward a patient's dignity.
53
posted on
07/27/2007 12:54:12 PM PDT
by
Stoat
(Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
To: Liberty Valance
Some folks just have no sense of humor ... LMAO!!!
54
posted on
07/27/2007 12:55:45 PM PDT
by
Stoat
(Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
To: battlegearboat; Slings and Arrows
good enough place to bump this thread and notify Sling that this one’s up his alley
55
posted on
07/27/2007 12:56:55 PM PDT
by
Kevmo
(We should withdraw from Iraq — via Tehran. And Duncan Hunter is just the man to get that job done.)
To: Stoat
Unprofessional conduct and no way should the insurance company have to bear the brunt of this doc’s bad judgment.
I think paying the settlement out of pocket would have been a fair penalty in this case.
To: Stoat
Most of the medical professionals I’ve encountered have really been good to do their best to do as you said. Sadly more and more people don’t seem to have any empathy for others. Simple kindness seems to be disappearing. Rather than sue the guy, I would rather just be allowed to pop him a good one! Oh, wait, that wasn’t a very kind thought.... ;)
susie
57
posted on
07/27/2007 12:58:59 PM PDT
by
brytlea
(amnesty--an act of clemency by an authority by which pardon is granted esp. to a group of individual)
To: Stoat
...staffers gave her copies at her birthday party. Stunned, she went home and never went back to work.Geez! That poor woman! This is one time I don't blame somebody for suing. I hope she gets everything he owns.
58
posted on
07/27/2007 1:04:41 PM PDT
by
Nea Wood
(I'm not a bad Christian because I refuse to join you in giving other people's stuff away.)
To: Stoat; theDentist
I think this is hilarious. My daughter is a nurse and has a very funny yet dark sense of humor. The only thing I fault the dentist for is not taking it farther. He should have woke her ass up while she was wearing the fake bridge and the entire staff who was in on the prank, should have been wearing fake piggy teeth too. The complainant is a leech, IMHO. You know she was getting a good deal on the procedure, practical joke gone bad or not.
Her fake hypersensitivity cost her big and her co-workers too. I doubt the dentist will be providing services to employee’s anytime soon.
Screw this phony eggshell existence we’ve produced that leads to lawsuit lottery’s.
To: bigfootbob
Screw this phony eggshell environment that leads to lawsuit lotteries!
I’m with you 200%!!
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20, 21-40, 41-60, 61-67 next last
Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson