Federal judge rules in favor of Jefferson, tossing out $15 million jury verdict for former Rothman surgeon

A federal judge voided a $15 million jury award to former Rothman Orthopaedic Institute surgeon John Abraham on Thursday and ordered a new trial at the request of Thomas Jefferson University in a nationally watched gender discrimination case.

U.S. District Judge Michael Baylson reversed the jury’s decision in December that Jefferson conducted a gender-biased investigation into a former medical resident’s allegations that Abraham raped her during a pool party at his Main Line home, causing him to lose his financial contract with Rothman.

Prior to Baylson’s ruling, the multimillion-dollar award had been the largest-ever verdict under a federal law, known as Title IX, prohibiting sex discrimination at schools that receive federal funding.

» READ MORE: The $15 million jury award to a male former Rothman surgeon against Jefferson in a sex discrimination case is the largest ever

Abraham’s case stemmed from a June 2018 party he hosted at his Gladwyne home for Jefferson’s orthopedic medical residents and hospital staff. A second-year female medical resident said she woke up in his bed covered in bruises, and accused him of raping her while she was intoxicated.

Abraham accused her of forcing herself on him after she plied him with alcohol. Both said they were too drunk to consent. (However, Jefferson, in arguing for a new trial, pointed to a statement that Abraham had provided to Rothman, which conducted its own investigation, in which Abraham said he was not drunk.)

Jefferson had paid a private law firm about $97,000 to investigate the alleged sexual assault, and the resulting 58-page report drew no conclusion on whether a rape occurred.

Zoe Gingold, Jefferson’s then-Title IX coordinator, decided there was enough evidence against Abraham to merit a hearing. But leaders at Jefferson and Rothman quietly brokered his resignation in exchange for closing the case without a hearing.

Rothman and Jefferson are separate entities, but many of Rothman’s partners hold prominent university positions and train Jefferson’s orthopedic residents.

In June 2020, Abraham sued Jefferson in federal court, claiming the university investigated only the medical resident’s allegations and failed to investigate his accusations against her.

Over a five-day trial in December, Abraham testified for hours, at times crying. He told jurors that Jefferson’s and Rothman’s leaders warned him that he stood no chance at a Title IX hearing — that no one would believe that a woman forced her male superior to have sex.

Abraham resigned from Jefferson in early 2019. Rothman terminated his contract four years later, allegedly for failing to meet his financial obligations as a partner.

The multimillion-dollar award came after a jury of five women and three men found Jefferson liable on two counts: that the university violated Title IX and that Jefferson’s actions caused Abraham to lose his financial contract with Rothman, where he had been a partner with a faculty appointment at the university.

But in a 120-page opinion released on Thursday, Baylson granted Jefferson a new trial on the Title IX-related jury verdict and overturned the jury’s finding that Jefferson interfered with Abraham’s financial contract with Rothman.

“We’re still absorbing the judge’s 120-page opinion, but we’re very pleased with the result,” Jefferson spokesperson Deana Gamble said Thursday evening.

Baylson, in his opinion, pointed to inconsistencies in Abraham’s testimony, writing, “he stated multiple times that his sexual relationship with a resident was a ‘mistake,’ thus suggesting that he was not an unwilling participant in the sexual encounter.” Baylson added that Abraham’s testimony about his sexual encounter with the resident on the morning after the party “does not suggest that he was the victim of sexual misconduct.”

In granting a new trial on Title IX, Baylson said he made “an important error” when he didn’t permit Jefferson’s lawyers to question Abraham about two text messages he had sent: One was sent prior to the pool party in which Abraham wrote to a colleague that he hoped “everyone brings their young hot single female friends to the party.” The other text exchange was during the party in which a college friend and attendee wrote, “Dont [sic] do it?” and Abraham responded, “Getting c‐‐k blocked anyway ... one of my residents so I really can’t anyway.”

Baylson said that he should have allowed the two text messages to come into evidence before the jury because Abraham’s lawyers “opened the door” to testimony about what happened at the party.

In reversing the jury’s verdict that Jefferson’s actions during its Title IX investigation into the allegations resulted in Abraham’s firing from Rothman, Baylson wrote that “the record is bare” of proof that Jefferson interfered with his Rothman contract.

“Jefferson did not circulate the sexual assault allegations to other hospitals or potential employers or report [Abraham’s] termination to the National Practitioners Database for physician misconduct,” Baylson wrote. “Jefferson largely kept its investigation and findings in-house.”

“Altogether, [Abraham] utterly failed to prove that Jefferson intended to harm his Rothman contract when he was `constructively terminated’ from Jefferson,” Baylson concluded, adding that testimony showed that Abraham lost his “position because he could not meet his revenue obligations over the course of three years, excluding 2020, when every partner received a grace year due to COVID.”

Rothman fired Abraham for allegedly failing to bring in $1.3 million in annual revenue, a requirement for partners, court documents show. Abraham has a pending arbitration claim against Rothman.

Abraham’s lawyers did not immediately provide comment.