Multiple cases have been filed by former patients against the Rockefeller University Hospital and its subsidiaries. The hospital and its subsidiaries were accused of negligent hiring, negligent supervision, and other charges regarding their employment of Dr. Reginald Archibald for over four decades, during which he is alleged to have abused patients.
Dr. Archibald was employed by Rockefeller from 1940 to 1982, according to the lawsuits, which were all filed in New York County Supreme Court. Also at issue is the university’s award of a “Physician Emeritus” status which allowed further hospital privileges after Archibald’s official retirement.
According to court documents, Dr. Archibald studied childhood growth and development including sexual maturity. However, the filings claim evidence has shown that he performed acts beyond medical review, including requiring patients to remain naked throughout the appointment, unnecessary touching and measurements, requiring nude patients to sit on his lap, and direct sexual acts. These appointments took place in exam rooms on the premises of the Rockefeller Hospital campus, documents said.
Rockefeller was accused of several violations of proper supervision and standards of care involving these patients. Dr. Archibald was permitted to conduct the examinations in locked exam rooms with no parents or guardians permitted and no faculty or staff members present to monitor his actions. Photographs were taken during the treatment sessions and the plaintiffs allege that Rockefeller is still in possession of this evidence and has not returned or destroyed them.
Rockefeller was also accused of having received notice of the doctor’s inappropriate conduct via complaints from parents during the time frame of the abuse, as well as due to grand jury investigations in the 1960s. The complaints claimed that the hospital either buried or declined to follow up on these activities and neglected to review the results of these investigations. As a result, the plaintiffs said they have also lost the opportunity to confront the abuser directly and that the hospital caused spoliation of certain evidence that could not otherwise be retained.
Both the coverup and the loss of this opportunity have led to counts regarding intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress. The specific counts vary between the lawsuits, but include counts for negligent hiring, negligent supervision, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of non-delegable duties, intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, premises liability, breach of duty to report, and enabling gender violence.
Firms representing the plaintiffs in the various cases include Gitlin, Horn & Van de kieft LLP, The Law Office of Joseph A. Maria, and Slater Slater Schuman LLP
