A trial has begun in the case of Dr. David Martorano, a resident in the psychiatry department at UCLA’s medical school who filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against UCLA and his female supervising physician, Dr. Heather Krell.
Martorano asserts that he and Krell had sex numerous times, and also alleges that one of the instances was not consensual and in that case Krell forced him.
Krell says she and Martorano never had sex.
“Dr. Martorano’s claims are ludicrous. There was never any affair, and there was never any sexual harassment,” Krell’s lawyer Donald Garrard said in a statement.
“Bringing this lawsuit is an abuse of our justice system. This case should never have been filed, or have gotten to court.”
According to the Los Angeles Times, Martorano was to become the chief resident of Krell’s clinic, but he holds that, after he ended the affair with Krell, he lost the job.
“Martorano was removed as chief resident because, whether or not Martorano and Krell had sex, even the perception that people are getting chief residencies because they are sleeping with people is not acceptable,” said University of California attorney Alan Zuckerman, who is representing UCLA in the case.
Krell, for her part, has filed countersuits against Martorano, alleging libel and slander. She is also no longer working at the UCLA hospital, though for unrelated reasons.
Krell has also filed a separate suit against UCLA, asserting that she was sexually harassed by Dr. Andrew Leuchter, another psychiatrist at UCLA.
According to the Los Angeles Times, jurors will not only be asked to decide whether Martorano and Krell had sex and whether he lost a job because of it, but also whether the university’s response to the situation was proper.
UCLA does not take a stance on whether or not the two doctors had sex, and is only concerned with the harassment issue, Zuckerman said.
“No matter what is decided, whether or not Martorano and Krell had sex, UCLA holds that Krell did not sexually harass Martorano,” he said.
So far, the prosecution has focused on portraying Martorano as “sex-obsessed,” as Garrard referred to him.
The Times reported that in testimony Martorano said he attended a private party thrown by adult entertainment companies and spent time in Malibu going on dates.
According to the Times, notes from an internal investigation into the incident conducted by UCLA reveal, “persons who worked with Martorano … report that (he) frequently spent his time … talking about sexual conduct.”
And another female psychiatrist in the department admitted that she and Martorano had an affair, though she wishes to remain confidential and the judge in the case decided she will be referred to by a code name throughout the trial.
Several other female psychiatrists in the department will remain confidential to protect their professional lives, since they will be testifying to details of their sex lives, the Times reported.
The case is expected to last through next week.