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Thursday, December 17, 1998
Jury assesses chiropractor $3 million
By Caren Benjamin
Review-Journal
A jury Wednesday awarded a woman $3 million in damages from the chiropractor who molested her.
Jennifer Fox's attorney had asked for more than $10 million to compensate his client for what he said were severe psychological injuries, including an inability to leave her home by herself.
Defense attorneys had suggested she be awarded $40,000.
Jeffrey Donner still faces another six civil trials.
He was indicted in April 1994 on 14 criminal counts, including sexual assault, stemming from allegations by five women who said Donner molested them during treatment.
In November 1996, he pleaded no contest to six gross misdemeanor counts of open and gross lewdness. He was sentenced to probation and had to give up his chiropractor's license.
As a result of the plea bargain, the only issue at any of the civil trials will be monetary damages.
Fox was 18 when she went to see Donner in 1992 for injuries to her back and neck. According to her, Donner fondled her breasts and genital area. She reported the incident to the police but he wasn't arrested until other women came forward in 1994.
At the trial, specialists for the plaintiff testified that the incident so traumatized her that she became a quieter, more afraid person than she had ever been before. One specialist diagnosed her with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Her attorney, Robert Eglet, had told jurors that the stress related to testifying against Donner before a grand jury had caused Fox to miscarry twins. District Judge Mark Denton later instructed the jury not to consider this because there had been no medical evidence related to the miscarriage.
Eglet said the issue of damages should come down to a single question. "What is the value of a woman's right not to be sexually violated by her doctor."
Defense attorney Niels Pearson reminded jurors that this was in essence a medical malpractice case because all Donner had done was negligently "cross the boundaries" and touch her accidently in the course of treatment.
Defense experts testified that Fox did indeed have some psychological problems but said they were not related to what happened with Donner.
Donner shook his head angrily, made faces and in general looked offended throughout the trial when allegations were raised that contradicted his version of events.
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