Horrible boss? Former staff accuse U.S. doc of sexist insults and threats of 'making people disappear'

An American plastic surgeon who allegedly told a female employee he wanted to “bend (her) over an exam table” and threatened staff by boasting of ties to the Mexican Mafia is now fighting lawsuits from two former employees. Dr. Ronald Bergman, a 72-year-old doctor with a high-profile practice in Des Moines, Iowa, has been accused by the three women of using vulgar, sexist terms–including crude words for the female genitalia–and of showing them unsolicited pictures of his genitalia and nude girlfriends. The lawsuits, which were filed separately over the last two years, also accused Dr. Bergman of using his alleged ties to the Mexican crime mob to scare employees he considered disloyal to him, according to an article in the Daily Mail. Read: $71M fund set up for victims of NY doctor charged with abuse Former employee Rhonda Swanson, who filed her lawsuit last month, said Dr. Bergman told her the Mexican Mafia “does not ask questions–they just kill” and “those who were not loyal had things happen to them.” Swanson also alleges that Dr. Bergman boasted frequently about patients wanting to have sex with him and once showed her a photo of a woman he was dating, nude and on her hands and knees in the picture. These behaviours caused Swanson to quit just three months after she started working for Dr. Bergman. Swanson’s allegations are echoed in a lawsuit by another former employee, Peggy West, who said Dr. Bergman told her he could “make people disappear” through his ties in the Mexican Mafia. According to West, Dr. Bergman also told her not to do “anything she would regret” when she objected to his behaviour. Read: REVOKED: Toronto doctor sexually assaulted patient and invited her to 'arousal sessions' Like Swanson, West lasted only three months in Dr. Bergman’s practice. Shortly after she quit and after testifying with the Iowa Board of Medicine about her former employer’s behaviour, West was accused Dr. Bergman of stealing US$4,366 from his practice. Des Moines police initially charged West with forgery and theft, based on Dr. Bergman’s allegations, but later dropped the charges. The assistant county attorney subsequently wrote that they were investigating allegations of “retaliatory reporting for prosecution.” A county sheriff’s detective who worked part-time in Dr. Bergman’s office and who used to be his patient and girlfriend, is listed in West’s lawsuit for allegedly helping Dr. Bergman with his retaliatory accusations. Dr. Bergman was also the subject of a recent lawsuit filed by a surgeon who trained under him while he was co-owner of a clinic called MercyOne Medical Centre. Dr. Suzanne Kuhnen, who completed a three-year fellowship at MercyOne, stated in her lawsuit that Dr. Bergman had, on numerous occasions and in front of patients and staff, hurled misogynistic insults at her and complained how she “cost him a lot of money.” Last year, Dr. Bergman was removed as a defendant in the lawsuit but Dr. Kuhnen is still suing MercyOne, which no longer lists Dr. Bergman on its website. The Iowa Board of Medicine, which is currently investigating Dr. Bergman, had reprimanded him in 2005 for dating a patient, whom he subsequently married. Dr. Bergman had denied wrongdoing in that case, arguing that he and the patient–who was 25 years his junior–had waited eight months after she became his patient to start dating. The board then ordered Dr. Bergman to undergo a professional boundaries program and warned him that he could lose his licence if he was investigated again for impropriety. Read: Suspended again: Accused twice of sexual offences, doctor must pay almost $39,000 in hearing costs

Horrible boss? Former staff accuse U.S. doc of sexist insults and threats of 'making people disappear'

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