Columbia University announced a settlement Wednesday with dozens of women who say their former gynecologist, Robert Hadden, abused them while he was their doctor. The $71.5 million settlement was reached with 79 women.
Claims by dozens of other patients have not been settled.
In 2014, New York State prosecutors filed criminal charges against Hadden for sexual assault involving six women. In 2016, he agreed to plead guilty to two individual counts of a criminal sex act in the third degree and forcible touching. The plea deal included no jail time and a downgrade in sex-offender status to the lowest level — meaning he is not listed in New York State’s online sex offender registry.
