Groping doctor ordered to pay $275,100 to 25 year old victim

Former Sussex oral surgeon ordered to pay more to patient in groping lawsuit
by Joe Moszczynski/The Star-Ledger

Friday February 20, 2009, 5:52 PM

A former Sussex County oral surgeon was ordered today to pay an additional $100 to a patient who claimed she was groped while she was recovering from anesthesia after surgery.

Amy Metzler, of Sparta, will get the nominal amount in punitive damages from oral surgeon J. Phillip Kurtz, 64, of Livington, in addition to the $275,000 the jury awarded her in compensatory damages on Thursday following a six-week civil trial in Newton.

Metzler's attorney, Andrew Fraser, said he was satisfied with the jury's latest verdict.
"They (the jury) must have felt he was punished enough," with the $275,000 award, he said.

Following 3 1/2 hours of deliberations, a jury unanimously voted 6-0 on both of the questions they were asked to decide on in the punitive damage phase of the trial against Kurtz.

The first question was whether Kurtz "maliciously, wantonly and willfully" harmed Metzler and the second question asked the jury to select an amount for punitive damages, which are designed to punish a defendant and act as a deterrent.

The 25-year-old Metzler was not disappointed by today's ruling.

"I was just happy to get the answer 'yes,'" she said.

Prior to the verdict, Kurtz testified that he has already suffered severe economic damages as a result of the lawsuit.

Kurtz said he earned about $250,000 annually before he was accused in the lawsuit in January 2004 of groping Metzler and four women when he worked as partner with the Tri-State Oral & Maxillofacial Group in Andover Township. The other women reached out-of-court settlements just after the trial began last month.

"The practice was expanding and growing. The year 2003 was the best year we ever had," he said.
After the lawsuit was filed, business dropped dramatically, Kurtz testified.

Today, he is unemployed and he lost his job as a part-time oral surgeon at the New York State dental office where he worked since 2007 "because of this trial," he said. In New York, he earned $800 to $1,200 a week, depending on how many days he worked.

Kurtz also testified that he had to take a four-day ethics course and undergo a psychiatric evaluation to get his dental license reinstated in New Jersey.

While reading to the jury from an essay he was required to write as part of the ethics course, Kurtz said he learned during the class that "subtle forms of touch may be inappropriate."
But Kurtz still maintained that he did not inappropriately touch anyone.

After today's verdict, his attorney, Cynthia Walters, issued a statement on his behalf which read in part: "I still say these events never happened. Justice has not prevailed and this verdict will be appealed."