In April 2021, Morgan Wilcox filed a lawsuit against the university and psychiatrist Dr. Manoj Bhargava. She claims Bhargava sexually assaulted her at an appointment at the Student Health Center in Fredericton and that UNB failed to protect her from it. On Thursday, her attorney formally asked the judge to certify the lawsuit as a class action. “There is an identifiable class of persons who share a common interest,” Wilcox’s attorney, Erika Hachey, wrote in an affidavit supporting the petition. “The law firms … were contacted by 14 different class members who expressed a desire to participate in the purported class action.” None of the allegations against UNB or Bhargava have been tested in court. Hachey wrote to each of the 14 people who said they were students at UNB when they received psychiatric treatment from Bhargava. All, including Wilcox, claim that Bhargava touched their breasts and chest while checking their heart rate and, or, blood pressure. In an affidavit, Wilcox claims Bhargava prescribed her the drug she said has dangerous side effects. She said it would take five to 10 minutes to check her heart rate, and the test was never done by a nurse like with other medical appointments. Bhargava says he followed “good and accepted medical practice”. (Facebook) After the first few dates, he began asking her to wear looser clothing rather than a bra, he wrote, so he could check her heart rate. She also claims he sometimes asked her to lie on the medical bed while he checked her heart rate. In a statement of defense filed this year, Bhargava denied all allegations of sexual assault. He said he followed “good and approved medical practice” when he checked Wilcox’s heart rate and blood pressure. He also said he was not an employee of UNB but rather an “independent contractor.” Bhargava said he signed a contract with UNB in 2011 and UNB terminated it in November 2020. The complaint and lawsuit came after Bhargava’s license was suspended by the College of Physicians and Surgeons. Since April last year, the college had received 18 complaints, most but not all from students.
Second lawsuit in Moncton
The motion for certification is scheduled to be heard in Fredericton on December 13, 14 and 15. When the case goes to court, Hachey said, six victims will go on record with their experiences. One of them is Ashley Brzezicki, who has filed her own lawsuit against UNB and Bharghava in Moncton. In that suit, she alleged that Bhargava prescribed her medication, which she said would affect her blood pressure. He claimed he asked her to wear loose clothing or remove clothing so he could check her blood pressure “often with non-consensual intercourse”.
The psychiatrist denies all charges
The lawsuit alleges that class members have suffered emotional and psychological harm, development or worsening of mental illness, and feelings of humiliation and degradation that have led to addiction and substance abuse. Bhargava denied any allegations that class members suffered any injuries in his care. “Any of the alleged losses, injuries or damages, which are not admitted but dismissed, were or stem from pre-existing mental health problems, mental or emotional harm and/or addiction or substance abuse problems,” his statement of defense said. The certification petition also includes a petition to make Wilcox the class representative. This means that if the case is certified, she would be reviewed, kept informed of developments and responsible for deciding what to do with any settlement offers. In her affidavit she vowed to interact with other class members, get their input and “act as an information filter” for the lawyers. “I accept responsibility,” he wrote in the affidavit filed Thursday.
