Lodi dentist ordered to pay $4.6 million

Bakr, convicted of groping patients, may pay more from other civil suits

A Lodi dentist convicted of groping his female patients has now been ordered to pay $4.6 million in damages to two patients and one woman's husband.

Ahmed Bakr

And because half a dozen other patients have pending civil suits against the dentist, he could be ordered to pay much more money.

The patients, however, will probably never see that money because Ahmed Bakr, 33, is believed to have returned to his native Egypt after resolving his criminal case in February.

"It's sort of a moral victory against the dentist," said Lodi attorney Kristina Fleutsch, who received the judgments on behalf of two patients. "My clients understand that right now they're paper judgments and they probably won't be able to collect. But they know at least the judge feels they deserve the money."

On June 16, San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Carter P. Holly awarded a woman $1 million in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages. On May 9, the judge awarded a woman $503,140 in compensatory damages, her husband $100,000 in compensatory damages and also gave the husband and wife $1 million each in punitive damages.

The News-Sentinel is not naming the plaintiffs because it does not identify sexual assault victims.

The $4.6 million judgment is only against Bakr, but his employer at the time of the gropings, Western Dental, remains involved in the case.

"That's amazing," attorney Jeff Silvia, who represents five other patients, said of the award amount. "That's definitely going to get Western Dental's attention."

Fleutsch on Tuesday formally sent copies of the judgments to Western Dental's attorney, Robert Zaro. A secretary said Zaro was out of his Sacramento office, and he did not immediately return a message left seeking comment.

Bakr was arrested in October after one of his patients went to Lodi Police and said she had been assaulted. The case soon grew as more patients came forward, and Bakr was ultimately charged with one felony and 12 misdemeanors.

He pleaded guilty in late January to one felony and three misdemeanors and was sentenced to six months in jail, and given credit for time served plus a good-time credit during his jail stay. He was soon released from custody.

In their civil suits against Bakr and his employer, some of the women accused the dentist of groping their breasts, touching their legs and becoming aroused while rubbing against them. Some of the patients had received local anesthetic and were in the midst of dental work when the assaults allegedly began, according to the suits.

Bakr could not be reached for comment, and civil attorneys said they believed he has returned to Egypt. His dental license expired in December and has not been renewed, according to the California Dental Board's Web site.

He is listed on California's Megan's Law Web site as a registered sex offender living in south Sacramento, though the site also says he could have since moved.

Whether the $4.6 million judgment will affect the rest of the civil case against Western Dental remains to be seen.

"There are two bases for potential liability of (Bakr's) employer: One is that they did something wrong, that they were negligent in hiring him or in supervising him," said Lawrence Levine, who teaches medical malpractice law at University of the Pacific's McGeorge School of Law.

The other base, he said, is "vicarious liability," when the employee's behavior leads to responsibility on the part of the employer. For instance, Levine said, if a pizza driver runs into someone, the pizza chain would be responsible.

"Where it gets hard here is, the more the conduct becomes criminal and intentional, the more likely it gets outside the scope of liability," Levine said.

California defines that issue in broad terms, he said, so litigation in the Western Dental case could become quite complex.

Contact reporter Layla Bohm at layla@lodinews.com.

First published: Wednesday, June 28, 2006