Pediatrician faces sex harassment suit

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By Ann McGlynn | Wednesday, August 02, 2006 | 57 comment(s)

A Bettendorf pediatrician faces a lawsuit filed by a former employee who alleges that he groped her while she was pregnant.

Dr. Narinder Kumar, who practices at Bettendorf Pediatric Group, is being sued by Ashley Weldy, a Davenport woman who worked as a medical assistant in his office.

The lawsuit is the latest legal issue for Kumar, including a five-year probation from the Iowa Board of Medical Examiners and a Bettendorf police investigation into alleged sexual abuse that never resulted in criminal charges.

Kumar did not return several telephone calls seeking comment Monday. John Doak, Weldy’s attorney, said he was not authorized to speak on her behalf. Weldy could not be reached for comment.

According to the lawsuit filed in Scott County District Court, Weldy was five months pregnant in March 2005. She says in the court papers that Kumar approached her in a hallway, asked how her baby was doing, lifted her shirt, placed his hands on her abdomen and began moving his hands close to her pelvic area.

Weldy “recoiled, lowered her shirt and returned to work, shaken,” the documents state. She discussed what had happened with a co-worker, “who informed her that Dr. Kumar had engaged in similar inappropriate touching of her,” according to the lawsuit.

One month later, in April 2005, Kumar allegedly approached Weldy in a break room, asked how her baby was and then leaned toward her, placing his head near her “as if he was examining her,” the court documents state. Then he allegedly placed his hands on her abdomen, lifted her shirt, rubbed her abdomen and told Weldy “that pregnant women needed to be touched,” according to the lawsuit.

Then, Kumar allegedly fondled her and made a comment about her breasts before attempting to kiss her “as she tried to escape,” the filing states. He blocked her from attempting to leave, placed his hands on her stomach and told her she needed a massage.

Weldy again told her co-worker what had happened and then reported the incident to the office manager, who said she could leave for the day.

Weldy did not return to work at Bettendorf Pediatric Group. She filed a complaint with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission one day after the incident, on April 22, 2005, and received a right-to-sue letter from the commission in June.

The lawsuit, filed last week, comes about one year after a separate matter in which a teenage girl filed a police report alleging that Kumar sexually abused her during an exam. Kumar, she said, ignored her request for a nurse’s presence before fondling her.

During the investigation, Kumar declined to answer a detective’s questions, the Bettendorf police report says. The doctor was not criminally charged, with the Scott County Attorney’s office citing a lack of evidence. But the information gathered by detectives was forwarded to the Iowa Board of Medical Examiners.

Kumar recently was charged with unprofessional conduct by the Board of Medical Examiners. In June, he reached a settlement with the board, which placed him on probation for five years.

The board did not disclose the reason for the charge. At the time, Kumar called it “a blip, a fluke.”

Under the probation, he is required to have a female health-care professional continually present when performing any physical examination of female patients, with the chaperone documenting her presence on the patient’s chart. Also, he must complete a course on appropriate prescribing practices and is not allowed to use controlled or prescription drugs unless prescribed by another health-care provider, among other requirements.

Kumar said earlier this summer that a complaint made by a colleague who had left the practice prompted the action.

“I always give good care to my patients and plan to continue that, even make it better,” he said after the Board of Medical Examiners announced the settlement in June.

Ann McGlynn can be contacted at (563) 383-2336 or amcglynn@qctimes.com.