Columbia University has agreed to pay $750 million to 576 former patients of Dr. Robert Hadden in a recent sexual abuse settlement.
Columbia University has agreed to pay $750 million to 576 former patients of Dr. Robert Hadden in a recent sexual abuse settlement. This negotiation brings the total amount paid by Columbia and its affiliates in cases connected to Hadden’s misconduct to over $1 billion.
Leading attorney Anthony DiPietro said that the $750 million agreement was a “historic recovery,” and acknowledges the monetary compensation as the “highest per case average that has been procured in a case of this nature in the country.”
Allegations against Dr. Hadden span decades. As a former OB-GYN affiliated with both Columbia and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, he targeted hundreds of women. Many of his patients trusted they were receiving optimal gynecological care and were instead sexually violated during examinations.
Plaintiffs recall institutional knowledge of Dr. Hadden’s abuse and lack of action. A letter sent by a former patient to the chair of Columbia University’s obstetrics and gynecology department (dated May 30, 1994), detailed Hadden’s misconduct. Although the chair responded less than a month later, no action was taken against the doctor.
The discovery of this written correspondence directly contradicted Columbia’s claims that the university and its administrators were unaware of any formal complaints made against Hadden until his arrest on sexual abuse charges in 2012.
DiPietro points to continuous dismissal throughout these investigations: At one point, Columbia claimed that survivors lacked the medical records to prove they had been former patients, despite the university’s legal obligation to “be the custodian of the client’s records.”
Many of Dr. Hadden’s patients were young women who felt incredibly fortunate to receive care at two of New York’s most prestigious medical institutions. This trust in their treatment was tarnished by a provider who intentionally took advantage of their autonomy.
In 2016, Robert Hadden pled guilty in New York state court to “a third-degree criminal sexual act and forcible touching.” His medical license was revoked, but he did not face prison time until January 2023 when he was found guilty on multiple federal charges involving sexual abuse of four additional patients. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Survivors assert that the recent agreement is a crucial step in bringing attention to continuous abuse and neglect by an institution that was supposed to protect its community.
Plaintiff Laurie Maldonado said, “This settlement is not about money — it’s about accountability. Columbia University enabled sadistic abuse, and now, they’ve been forced to face the truth.”
“It’s my hope that other institutions are seeing this and that they realize that they can’t cover up misconduct and expose unsuspecting patients to known serial sexual predators,” DiPietro said. “Because if they do, then they too are going to be held accountable.”
Authors: Andy Goldwasser and Alexis Kabat
