El Camino Hospital refused to analyze a nurse’s declare {that a} supervisor sexually attacked her in a toilet stall as a result of the alleged incident occurred throughout a retirement social gathering for a co-worker at a downtown San Jose steakhouse, not on the Mountain View well being care campus the place she labored, a lawsuit in opposition to the hospital and the alleged assailant claims.
The supervisor was arrested and charged earlier this month with sexual battery.
The nurse claimed in her lawsuit that through the retirement social gathering in March 2024 at Morton’s steakhouse attended by El Camino nurses, docs, managers and administrators, supervisor Evyatar Nitzany adopted her into the ladies’s toilet and a stall. He allegedly locked the stall door, pinned her in opposition to the wall, kissed her forcefully, groped her breast, then uncovered his genitals and requested her to carry out oral intercourse.
This information group just isn’t naming the nurse, because the case issues an alleged sexual assault.
El Camino Well being, which operates the hospital, stated Thursday that it took the nurse’s allegations “with the utmost seriousness,” and that it doesn’t tolerate harassment and misconduct.
“We are reviewing the matter and remain committed to maintaining a safe and respectful environment for all employees,” El Camino stated, including that Nitzany is not employed on the hospital.
Nitzany, 37, of Los Altos, was arrested in October on the hospital in Mountain View and charged Might 1 with sexual battery, indecent publicity and false imprisonment, court docket information present. His lawyer within the prison case, Marshall Hammons, stated Nitzany didn’t commit the claimed offenses.
“He is someone with no criminal history or record and the court process will go to show his innocence,” Hammons stated Thursday.
San Jose cops questioned the nurse and arrested Nitzany after a colleague of the nurse contacted the division, in response to police reviews filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court docket.
Police spoke to the nurse within the El Camino emergency division, the place she had checked herself in saying she was distraught over the alleged assault and having suicidal ideas, police stated.
Nitzany, when approached by police, stated he had an “idea” why he was being arrested and that he needed a lawyer current earlier than answering questions, police stated.
One El Camino worker advised police she had gone into the toilet at Morton’s that evening, heard a loud noise and laughing, and known as out the nurse’s title, however solely heard extra laughing. One other witness advised police the nurse confided in her the subsequent day that Nitzany had pulled her right into a stall, groped her breast and uncovered himself.
The nurse advised police she believed Nitzany was drunk and wouldn’t have behaved the best way he allegedly did if he had been sober. She had consumed a couple of drinks that evening however was not intoxicated, she advised police.
She advised police that the day after the alleged incident, Nitzany advised her he would lose his job if she reported him. She stated she didn’t initially report the alleged assault as a result of she feared dropping her job or that Nitzany would retaliate in opposition to her, in response to police reviews.
Within the lawsuit filed April 28 in Santa Clara County Superior Court docket, the nurse claimed that a couple of days after the alleged incident, she agreed to talk with Nitzany in a meditation room on the hospital, the place he pleaded along with her to maintain quiet.
“In the months that followed, Nitzany continued to pester (her) to inquire if she was going to report the incident to
HR,” the lawsuit alleged. “He waited for her in the hallway to hunt her down and followed her into the cafeteria for lunch.”
In late September, the nurse reported the alleged assault to El Camino’s human sources division, and when she adopted up with the division 10 days later through electronic mail, feeling “anxious and fearful” of Nitzany, she acquired no response, the lawsuit claimed.
The nurse went to the division a couple of days later, and was advised the hospital would take no motion as a result of the incident occurred outdoors the office, the lawsuit alleged.
When she stated Nitzany was harassing and stalking her at work, she realized that the division had not spoken to Nitzany, the lawsuit claimed.
Two days later an HR official confirmed to the nurse that the division wouldn’t pursue an investigation as a result of the alleged assault passed off off web site, and Nitzany had not stalked or harassed her since September, the lawsuit alleged.
The nurse is searching for unspecified damages.
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