Job Seeker Says Doctor Fondled Her

By DAVID SOMMER The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 5, 2007

NEW PORT RICHEY - A physician's assistant who was about to take a new job this year is suing her would-be employer, alleging he fondled her during training.

The lawsuit, filed under the name Jane Danielle Doe because of the nature of the allegations, accuses doctor Gunwant Dhaliwal, 45, of inappropriate touching and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The doctor denies any such thing happened.

The 29-year-old woman, whose first name is Danielle, filed a complaint with the Pasco County Sheriff's Office on Feb. 13, the day after she says the incident took place.

According to sheriff's records filed with the lawsuit, Danielle told Deputy Siobhan Carroll that she went to Gulfview Medical Clinic to meet with Dhaliwal because he would be her new supervisor.

During the meeting, Dhaliwal was to demonstrate a dermal abrasion technique that Danielle would perform on paying customers after practicing on a friend or relative, she told Carroll.

The doctor started the procedure on her face, moved down to her neck and upper chest, and then "put his hands down her shirt and into her bra," records state.

"Danielle advised that she managed to become very uncomfortable but didn't manage to say anything and eventually grabbed her shirt and covered herself up."

The woman said she told Dhaliwal she needed to go pick up her children, according to the report, and he offered to finish the procedure at a later date.

Questioned a few days later, Dhaliwal told authorities no such incident took place.

Dhaliwal said his male business partner and a female office manager were present Feb. 12 when he had a brief meeting with Danielle in an outer office and she "told him her previous employer was pushing for her to stay at her current job," the sheriff's documents state.

The deputy concluded there was not enough evidence to make an arrest "based on the investigation, the lack of independent witnesses and the conflicting statements."

Assistant State Attorney Mary Handsel said Friday that the matter had not been referred to her office, probably because it was one person's word against another's.

Reached Friday, Dhaliwal said he thinks the woman made the police report to get out of a contract that required her to pay him $5,000 if she did not resign from her old job and come to work at his clinic.

"I deny all the charges," Dhaliwal said. "I never did any procedure on her. … She had experience with that" at her previous job.

The woman's attorney, Michael Feiner of Fort Lauderdale, said he is pursuing the case on principle because doctors who prey on employees are rarely reported to authorities.

Feiner said he also is referring the matter to state medical regulators. He said he has found no evidence of previous complaints about Dhaliwal.

Reporter David Sommer can be reached at (727) 815-1087 or dsommer@tampatrib.com.