Bristol Hospital. Photo: Google

A federal judge has ruled against setting aside a default judgement against a surgeon who was accused of sexually assaulting an employee and patient at Bristol Hospital.

Dr. Olakunle Oluwole had maintained in a request to set aside the default judgment that he was never properly served with the lawsuit that Laura Henry filed against him. He did not answer the lawsuit, leading to a ruling in Henry's favor.

In a five-page ruling responding to Oluwole's challenge, U.S. District Judge Stefan Underhill let the judgment stand.

“There is evidence suggesting that Dr. Oluwole's default was willful and that setting aside the default judgment would prejudice Henry,” the judge wrote.

In Oluwole's case, state marshals attempted numerous times in early-to-mid-2014 to deliver the summons to his new job in Albany, New York, and to his home in Rochester, New York. There was never a response.

Oluwole later claimed he did not become aware of the lawsuit until October 2017 when he attempted to reinstate his New York and Connecticut medical licenses.

The judge, however, noted there is evidence “suggesting that Dr. Oluwole had actual notice of the claims pending against him and chose not to answer.” That evidence, Underhill wrote, included the doctor allegedly contacting Henry on Facebook and admitting he “couldn't face (her) in court.”

In July 2018, the doctor filed a motion asking the court to reconsider the default judgment. If Underhill had granted Oluwole's request, it would have meant that the lawsuit, which was filed against both Bristol Hospital and the doctor, would have had to start from the beginning as far as discovery and depositions—at least with regard to the suit against the doctor.

“When someone files a complaint against you, you just can't ignore it,” said Hartford solo practitioner Richard Gordon, who is representing Henry. “You have to answer, or you have to challenge the court's jurisdiction. He did neither.”

Henry, according to her lawsuit, was working as a surgical services associate at Bristol Hospital when she claimed Oluwole sexually assaulted her at the hospital, first grabbing her in the entrance to his office and then forcing her to perform oral sex. In addition to being a hospital employee, Henry became a patient of Oluwole's related to a lap band procedure. The assault allegedly occurred, according to the lawsuit, when she entered his office to discuss the procedure. Henry alleges the doctor grabbed her in the doorway and attempted to kiss her. Later, while performing a medical procedure, the lawsuit says, the doctor “brutally and violently grabbed her hair” and forced her to perform oral sex.

Bristol Hospital Multi-Specialty Group employed Oluwole, who had staff privileges to practice at Bristol Hospital. He was eventually fired.

Bristol Hospital has maintained in court papers that because the doctor was not technically its employee, it should be exempt from the lawsuit.

Hospital spokesman Chris Boyle declined to comment Thursday because the matter is pending.

Oluwole, who now lives in New Jersey, has an unlisted telephone number and could not be reached. His attorney, John Costa of Ryan Ryan DeLuca, did not respond to a request for comment.

Representing Bristol Hospital are Jackson Lewis attorneys  James Shea and Sara Simeonidis and Ashley Totorica of Stamford's Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart. Shea was on vacation and not available for comment. Simeonidis and Totorica did not respond to requests for comment.

Oluwole was never criminally charged. Gordon told the Connecticut Law Tribune on Thursday  police felt they needed more information before they pressed charges. In addition, Gordon said, he was with Henry when she was talking to the police and suffered a “catastrophic stroke” during the interviewing process, “due to stress.”

Today, according to Gordon, Henry has blood clots in her leg and neck, a stent in her neck and a device implanted in her brain to keep her alive.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

Read More:

Lawsuit Alleging Violent Sex Assault by Outside Surgeon Moves Forward Against Bristol Hospital