Sexually abused boy sues hospital for negligence
REDWOOD CITY — A 16-year-old boy who was sexually abused while under anesthesia at Stanford Health Care is suing the hospital system for negligence.
The lawsuit, filed in San Mateo County Superior Court in Redwood City late last week, alleges that some Stanford employees did not report what they saw and hospital officials should have known the abuser had a “proclivity to have inappropriate sexual contact” because of past encounters.
The suit also stated some Stanford leaders fostered a toxic environment by allowing a group of managers to band together and look out for each other, including the abuser, while retaliating against those who spoke out.
According to the suit, Stanford employees reported seeing the boy sexually battered on March 31, 2015, by Robert Lastinger in the surgical theater of a facility located at 450 Broadway St. in Redwood City. Lastinger, a hospital employee at the time, was convicted in May 2016 of sexual battery involving four victims, including the boy.
Stanford nurses who witnessed the assault and a previous one eventually came forward on April 2 and reported what they saw to an interim facility manager, according to Paul Matiasic, a San Francisco attorney representing the victim, now an adult living in the South Bay.
The lawsuit alleges that a different group of employees had observed Lastinger molesting another patient days earlier but failed to report the matter to hospital authorities and police, as mandated by state law.
“The lewd acts of this perpetrator are egregious by any measure,” Matiasic said in a news release. “What makes this situation all the more appalling is that Stanford allowed it to happen.”
Matiasic said about 25 employees and managers knew that Lastinger, an anesthesia technician, had a history of sexually abusing patients.
“Instead of sounding the alarm, they stuck their head in the sand,” Matiasic said.
Following his conviction, Lastinger was sentenced to a year in jail after pleading no contest to two counts of felony sexual battery on the condition that he not be sentenced to state prison and that his county jail term would not exceed one year.
Hospital administrators placed Lastinger on leave April 2015 after they reported the incidents to police.
Matiasic also represents one of the other victims, who was assaulted by Lastinger on March 20, 2015 — 11 days before the 16-year-old was.
In a statement issued to the news media, Stanford Health Care spokeswoman Erin Weinstein rejected claims of negligence and said the hospital will “vigorously defend” against the allegations.
“Any claim that SHC knew that Robert Lastinger was a predator and did nothing is false,” the statement said. “It is undisputed that as soon as SHC learned of the allegations of inappropriate conduct by one of our anesthesia technicians, SHC removed the employee, launched an internal investigation, and contacted local authorities per our protocols.”
The lawsuit alleges that nurses, managers, patient care coordinators, anesthesia techs and scrub techs all failed to report, reprimand or fire Lastinger for his “abnormal, troubling” behavior. None of those employees are named in the complaint. The then-16-year-old victim does not know their true names.
Lastinger’s conduct included fondling the genitals of male patients while they were sedated, either before, during or after surgery, the lawsuit states.
According to the lawsuit, one nurse indicated it was well known that Lastinger “liked to fiddle with male patients’ penises.”
The lawsuit also states that one or more nurses witnessed Lastinger’s behavior on March 20, 2015, and “texted and had conversations with colleagues about witnessing the same, yet failed to contact law enforcement and/or any other appropriate administrative agency out of fear.”
Employees feared that Stanford Health Care and other employees would retaliate against them because “Lastinger was a protected employee,” the lawsuit claims.
The lawsuit alleges Stanford Health Care “allowed a toxic environment and atmosphere of intimidation that stymied” employees from reporting Lastinger’s abuse of adults and minors.
Stanford Health Care, as well as the Stanford School of Medicine, also faces a wrongful termination suit related to Lastinger’s conduct. That suit, filed last Thursday in Santa Clara County Superior Court by Alioto Law Offices, alleges that George Baez, an interim director of ambulatory perioperative, said he thoroughly investigated the allegations against Lastinger and other employees, resulting in the hospital retaliating against him.
Baez alleged Lastinger is part of an unofficial, self-appointed group of managers led by two Stanford School of Medicine doctors who would intimidate employees who reported or investigated wrongdoing by Lastinger.
For example, according to the suit, an employee who investigated missing medication and found Lastinger responsible was transferred at the urging of these doctors.
And soon after Lastinger was reported to police, Baez said in the lawsuit that he found a message in a common room white board that said, “What we do… back stabbing each other and not helping each other.”
Stanford Health Care said in a statement: “While it is not appropriate to comment about the details of an individual employee’s termination, we can unequivocally state that Mr. Baez’s termination had nothing to do with his minor involvement with any hospital investigation.”