RICHMOND, Va. — A Richmond circuit judge has ruled that three former Cumberland Hospital patients will still receive a multi-million dollar award, though slightly reduced, and will not have to go through another trial.
The ruling comes after three young women alleged they were sexually assaulted by former Cumberland Hospital Medical Director Daniel Davidow while they were patients at the New Kent facility.
The women claimed they were inappropriately touched during admission exams.
In the September civil trial against Davidow and the facility, the jury awarded the women a total of $360 million, which included violations of the Virginia Consumer Protection Act (VCPA).
The defendants challenged the verdict, alleging the plaintiffs failed to prove the VCPA claims, but the judge disagreed.
The judge also denied the defendants' motion for a new trial, which cited issues with one of the jurors, the juror forms, and argued that punitive damages should have been separated by defendant and claim.
While upholding most of the verdict, the judge did reduce punitive damages by $350,000 per plaintiff based on the Virginia statutory cap. The new judgment per plaintiff is $80,350,000 for a total award of just over $241 million — a reduction of just over $1 million from the original amount.
Civil attorney Kevin Biniazan sent us the following statement:
"These decisions keep sacred the verdicts rendered by the jurors in September. While we understand the court's decision to enforce the statutory cap, we do believe the legislature acted unconstitutionally by selecting an arbitrary number that overrules the jury's verdict. We hope the application of the punitive damages cap here brings attention to its injustice and sparks change so that bad actors in the Commonwealth are adequately punished for their harmful behavior."
This first trial was part of a $930 million suit filed against Cumberland and Davidow by 46 former patients.
A judge in New Kent acquitted Davidow of criminal charges last year that were brought as a result of similar allegations from two different former patients.
The next civil trial is scheduled for October.
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
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