Propublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates power abuse. Sign up and receive the biggest story as soon as it’s published.
Columbia University has agreed to a $750 million settlement with 576 former doctors who were sexually abused while working at school.
In 2023, ProPublica investigation published in New York Magazine revealed that Columbia ignored women, undermined prosecutors and ultimately protected predators. Obstetrician Robert Hadden worked at university for 20 years despite decades of complaints about him.
The university reported that he cleared Hadden to see the patient three days after he was arrested when he called 911 and attacked her during the postnatal exam. The senior university student had been informed of the arrest, but Hadden allowed him to continue working for another five weeks. He also reported that patients he saw during that time were assaulted.
The latest settlement, combined with payments from previous cases, means that Columbia has paid more than $1 billion to resolve allegations of sexual abuse by Hadden. Columbia also said it has resolved more than 1,000 allegations of sexual abuse by former Hadden patients.
Hadden was convicted of a sex offense in federal court in January 2023 and is currently sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Patient Laurie Kanyok, who called 911, said the settlement was bittersweet. “It’s been 13 years so it’s emotional,” she told Propublica.
She also said that financial compensation does not amount to justice.
“I’m grateful for your involvement in this,” Kang-hyuk said. “At the same time, I want to see people take responsibility, not just someone’s insurance company or checkbook.”
Unlike other well-known cases, including sexual abuse by doctors, Colombian administrators have not been fired or resigned as a result of the Hadden case.
In a statement, Columbia acknowledged that it was unable to protect Hadden’s patients. “We deeply regret the pain his patients suffered. This settlement is another step forward in our ongoing work and commitment to repairing harm and supporting survivors,” the statement said. “We praise the survivors for the courage to move forward.”
With the latest settlement, Colombia has made the university equal to the largest payment ever to resolve its sexual abuse claims. In 2021, the University of Southern California agreed to pay $1.1 billion to the survivors of George Tyndal, a university gynecologist who abused thousands of women.
How Colombia ignored women, weakened prosecutors and protected predators for over 20 years
Anthony DiPietro, the lawyer who handled most of Columbia’s claims, said the lessons from this week’s settlement were clear. The agency said “we cannot hold the sexual exploitation and abuse by doctors.”
A few weeks after Propublica’s investigation, Columbia announced it would establish a $100 million settlement fund for patients who do not want to file a civil lawsuit. Survivors will need to file a claim for approximately a week until May 15th.
As part of the same announcement, Columbia also said it would notify all of Hadden’s nearly 6,500 former patients to doctors’ crimes and ask for an external investigation to investigate failures that allow the abuse to last longer.
Asked about the status of the investigation, published a year and a half ago, the university said it was ongoing. Colombia did not give a time frame for the completion of the report.
