Clinic, doctor again named in sexual harassment lawsuit

BECKLEY -- A woman has filed another lawsuit against a clinic and one of its doctors claiming he sexually harassed her while she was on the examination table.

Camilla Ramsey filed a lawsuit March 26 in Raleigh Circuit Court against Hope Clinic PLLC and John H. Pellegrini D.O., citing civil assault and battery, false imprisonment, negligence, premise liability, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent hiring, negligent failure to train and medical negligence.

The lawsuit states Ramsey had her first and only appointment with Pellegrini on Sept. 28, 2012. She stated her symptoms and was told by Pellegrini to lie on the examination table for a physical inspection. He began rubbing her ankles, then legs, and Ramsey says he then began to rub his penis up and down her legs and body, interrupted briefly by a nurse knocking on the door, according to the complaint. He then told her the medication prescribed by her doctor is adequate to relieve her symptoms.

Ramsey is seeking permanent injunctions against the clinic and Pellegrini, compensatory damages to be determined by a jury, out-of-pocket losses, punitive damages, plus court costs.

She is being represented by Matthew S. Criswell of Criswell French Condaras PLLC. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Robert A. Burnside.

Dozens of lawsuits have been filed against Pellegrini since 2010 involving claims that he sexually abused and harassed patients. In November 2012, the West Virginia Board of Osteopathic Medicine suspended Pellegrini’s license.

In 2001, Pellegrini was the subject of a medical malpractice lawsuit filed in federal court. The lawsuit stemmed from allegations that Pellegrini negligently performed a hysterectomy on the plaintiff. In July 2010, 20 women filed lawsuits in Wayne County alleging that Pellegrini sexually abused and harassed them while he worked as a physician at the Lakin Correction Center. In 2011, another suit was filed against Pellegrini. And in 2013, another was filed against him.

The 2012 WVBOM order found probable cause to believe that Pellegrini engaged in unprofessional and unethical conduct. The Board also issued a Statement of Charges that alleged Pellegrini committed repeated acts of an unethical exercise of influence within a doctor-patient relationship for the purpose of engaging a patient in sexual activity.

The Board also found that Pellegrini was likely to continue his practices of unethical and inappropriate behavior unless it took immediate action. The Board then suspended Pellegrini’s medical license based on a finding that Pellegrini’s continued practice of medicine and surgery would constitute an immediate danger to the public.

In 2013, at least one lawsuit was filed against Pellegrini, Hope Clinic and other entities involving allegations that Pellegrini sexually abused, sexual harassed his patients and subjected them to other inappropriate conduct. Other suits have been filed earlier this year in Raleigh Circuit Court and Kanawha Circuit Court.

Raleigh Circuit Court Case No. 14-C-595