By ANA ACLE
Herald Staff Writer
A Hialeah woman has sued Palmetto General
Hospital, alleging an employee sexually assaulted her
while she was treated for an injury at the hospital.
Idalbys Herrera, 31, says the man assaulted
her and exposed himself in her hospital room.
The accused employee has not been charged
criminally and is not identified in the lawsuit. The
employee, a laboratory technician, no longer works for
the hospital. It is not known whether he resigned or was
terminated and why.
Palmetto General spokeswoman Vilma Cestino
confirmed that the allegation had been reported last
year and that Hialeah Police investigated.
"We notified and cooperated with all
appropriate authorities, and it is our understanding
that no charges will be filed as a result of the
patient's allegation," Cestino said.
Police investigators could not be reached
by telephone Friday afternoon.
Herrera has consented to having her name in
the newspaper and in court documents because she said
she hopes other victims also will come forward. Her
husband, Hector Herrera, also a plaintiff because
"he has lost the services and consortium of his
wife," states the suit, which was filed June 15.
According to Herrera, she checked into the
Hialeah hospital in December after injuring her head
while she took a shower at home.
The incident happened Dec. 14 when a male
laboratory technician entered the room while she dozed,
Herrera said. Herrera had seen the man only once before
when he and another technician drew her roommate's
blood.
"I jumped up because I was asleep,"
Herrera said. "I saw this guy and pushed him away
with my right hand, breaking my IV and sending fluid one
way and blood the other.
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"I was really
scared, I didn't worry about my arm," Herrera
said. "When I saw him with his thing out, I
freaked and panicked."
He zipped up his pants, she said, and
threatened her not to tell anyone.
"He said, 'Don't tell anyone or
you'll be sorry about it,'" she said.
Herrera said the police called her a liar.
According to the police report, written
by Hialeah Detective Orlando Rodriguez, the suspect
said Herrera flirted with him, asked him for his
beeper number and called the pager.
The suspect told the police he went to
her room, turned the on the lights and noticed the
other patient was not in her bed. He told police he
then left because he thought Herrera was crazy, but
the report doesn't elaborate.
Two hospital employees told the detective
they saw Herrera and the suspect flirting with each
other. They said they did not know the suspect entered
the room.
The police report also says Herrera was
checked by physicians at the Rape Treatment Center,
but the examination report showed no signs of trauma
to her vagina.
Herrera's attorney, Spencer Aronfeld,
said that while police may not have enough evidence
for an arrest, a civil court does not need proof
beyond a reasonable doubt. Civil court only needs the
greater weight of the evidence to tip the scales
either for or against the plaintiff's demand.
"We're confident that a jury in this
community can sort through the facts and evidence in
this case and come up with a just resolution,"
Aronfeld said. The hospital is negligent, Aronfeld
said, because it hired the employee whose actions
resulted in nHerrera's mental anguish and other
losses.
"Clearly, we think the evidence
would suggest a verdict in the million-dollar
range," Aronfeld said.
Herald staff writer Fernando Almanzar contributed
to this report.
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