Berkeley man sues Kaiser Permanente, accuses medical assistant of sexual assault during cancer surgery

OAKLAND — A Kaiser Permanente patient filed a lawsuit last week against the medical provider, alleging that he was sexually abused during a surgery, according to a press release by Zinn Law Firm.

The victim, 58-year-old Michael Bean of Berkeley, claims in a lawsuit filed Feb. 14 in Alameda County Superior Court that during a skin cancer removal surgery in 2024 a medical assistant thrusted his penis into his shoulder area. According to the press release, Bean filed complaints with Kaiser but never received a response, so he is taking the hospital giant to court.

In an interview with the Bay Area News Group, he called it a “horrible experience” and “one that I felt the need to share.”

“I was basically confused, dumbfounded, outraged, freaked out about this entire experience, and (the abuse) pretty much occurred throughout the entire procedure,” Bean said. The suit names Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and the Permanente Medical Group as defendants.

In a statement, Kaiser Permanente officials said they could not comment on the lawsuit because it is active but “want to be clear that we take any such allegation extremely seriously.”

“Protecting the safety and well-being of our patients is our priority. In keeping with this commitment, Kaiser Permanente does not tolerate any kind of sexual harassment or misconduct within our premises,” the statement said.

Bean was diagnosed with a basal cell carcinoma on his left cheek near his ear, so he scheduled an appointment on Feb. 14, 2024 to have it removed at the MOHS Clinic at Kaiser San Rafael Medical Center, according to the lawsuit.

At the appointment, he was treated by a female physician and a male medical assistant and instructed to close his eyes and not speak or not move during the surgery to prevent any accidents from occurring, the press release says.

Bean said he took the directions seriously, and the doctor began to work on removing the skin cancer.

But during the surgery, Bean said he felt something stiff rhythmically pushing against his arm and although his eyes were closed, he could imagine what it was. It lasted throughout the 30- to 45-minute procedure, the suit claims. Bean said he did not know if the physician was aware of what happened to him.

“There was no other part of the this gentleman’s anatomy that was anywhere near Michael’s right shoulder,” his attorney, Carter Zinn, said. “It couldn’t have been an arm or a kneecap, those were not in the immediate area.”

When Bean’s surgery was complete, he said the medical assistant walked him out to the waiting area, where he sat for an hour as the sample was examined until the same medical assistant came back and ushered him out of the facility. He said he didn’t say anything about the experience because he was in “a state of disbelief and shock” and wanted to leave as quickly as possible.

Bean said that he battled months of anxiety, wondering if the experience was a dream or if it was real. After receiving an email from Kaiser to survey his experience, he claims he gave explicit details about what happened to him, later told his general practitioner about it, made his claims known in a second survey and, finally, filed a formal complaint and asked for someone at Kaiser to call him back. Despite doing all that, he never received a response, he said.