Georgia Injury Attorney Blog

The lawsuit filed by trial attorney Evan Jones also names Hamilton Mill Dental Associates, LLC as a defendant. That is the practice group which employed Dr. Chuo and which owned the dental offices where the sexual molestation took place. The lawsuit asserts that Hamilton Mill Dental Associates is vicariously liable for the Plaintiffs’ damages because the female minor was a patient of that practice group and because Dr. Chuo was its agent or employee at the time of the assault. In most states, including Georgia, employers can be held vicariously liable for the tortious conduct of its employees under a doctrine known as respondeat superior.

Moreover, the lawsuit alleges that the Hamilton Mill Dental Associates practice group is also directly liable on grounds that it was negligent in hiring and retaining Dr. Chuo despite evidence of his proclivities to commit offensive or sexually inappropriate acts with young patients. Hamilton Mill Dental Associates is accused of negligently failing to protect patients from possible sexual misconduct by Dr. Chuo even though other employees and/or members of that practice knew or should have known that Dr. Chuo had a propensity to act in an offensive or inappropriate manner. The lawsuit alleges that prior to October 2006, Dr. Chuo “had already assaulted at least two other female patients.”

This is the second lawsuit filed by trial lawyers at Ragland & Jones, LLP involving sexual misconduct by a medical care professional. In February 2001, attorney Daniel A. Ragland filed a lawsuit against a medical doctor in Nashville, Tennessee asserting claims of medical malpractice, sexual assault and battery, breach of fiduciary duties, and intentional inflictions of emotional distress. The lawsuit was filed in the Circuit Court of Davidson County Tennessee and was captioned, Melissa A. Minton vs. Christ P. Koulis, M.D. et. al, Case No. 01C-591. That lawsuit alleged that Dr. Koulis, a plastic surgeon and former graduate of Vanderbilt University Medical School, was negligent in his performance of breast augmentation surgery as well as his care of post-operative complications which arose after surgery. The Plaintiff alleged that Dr. Koulis’ malpractice led to permanent gross disfigurement. The lawsuit was reported in the Nashville Post.

Moreover, Dr. Koulis was accused of taking advantage of his position as a physician by giving drugs to the Plaintiff for recreational purposes both before and after the surgery, and seducing Ms. Minton into having sexual relations with him several times while there existed a doctor-patient relationship. Ms. Minton claimed that she was especially susceptible to Dr. Koulis’ inappropriate sexual advances because she was a young adult, because of the drugs given to her by Dr. Koulis, because she had diminished judgment as a result of a traumatic brain injury she suffered in a car accident several years earlier, and because of the perceived power and influence Dr. Koulis had as a physician providing operative care. Dr. Koulis eventually agreed to a pre-trial settlement on terms which are required to be kept confidential.

Ms. Minton’s lawsuit also named Dr. Koulis’ medical partner and practice group as Defendants claiming that they knew or should have known about Dr. Koulis’ illicit propensities yet they negligently failed to take appropriate actions to protect patients from being victims of sexual misconduct. The Plaintiff alleged that she was not the only patient with whom Dr. Koulis had sexual relations or to whom he had given drugs illegally. Dr. Koulis’ partner and corporate practice group also agreed to confidential pre-trial settlements.

The lawsuit filed by Melissa Minton and a second lawsuit filed by another patient-victim, Robyn Williams, resulted in investigations by the Nashville hospitals where Dr. Koulis practiced medicine, as well as by the Nashville Board of Medical Examiners. These investigations confirmed Dr. Koulis' sexual misconduct with his patients and in May 2002, the state of Tennessee suspended Dr. Koulis’ license to practice medicine. In 2003, Dr. Koulis was arrested in Kentucky for unlawful distribution of controlled substances to another patient, Lesa Buchanan. Dr. Koulis pled guilty to one felony charge and was given a sentence of 5 years probation. Because of these additional charges, in November 2004, the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners requested that Dr. Koulis permanently surrender his Tennessee medical license. In 2005, New York and Illinois also took action to permanently revoke Dr. Koulis’ licenses to practice medicine in those states. Also, in 2005, Dr. Koulis was arrested and charged with homicide in connection with the July 4, 2005 death of his former patient, Lesa Buchanan, due to a drug overdose. In September 2007, a jury in Franklin, Tennessee convicted Dr. Koulis of criminal negligent homicide in connection with providing the oxycodone which caused Ms. Buchanan's death.