Says Settlement Tarnishes Reputation
Doctor: City Stigmatized Me

By REUVEN BLAU

Correction Department Psychiatrist Faouzia Barouche wants her day in court to clear her name.

The Chief-Leader/Alana Marcu 'A TRAVESTY OF JUSTICE': Faouzia Barouche says the Bloomberg administration's decision to settle a lawsuit charging that she tried to coerce an emotionally traumatized Correction Officer into returning to work has damaged her standing as a Psychiatrist in the Correction Department.

The Bloomberg administration, Dr. Barouche contends, settled a "frivolous" lawsuit brought by Correction Officer Wilfredo Torres, who claimed that she tried to use psychotherapy to get him to go back to work after he was severely injured in an attack by inmates.

A $40G Blemish

The attorney retained by the city during the Giuliani administration to handle the case, Austa S. Devlin, initially told her to review her notes on the 1999 case and prepare for a trial. But last month, Dr. Barouche was notified that the city paid Officer Torres $40,000 to settle the suit.

"If they don't want to pay, fine, tell me," she said during an Aug. 1 interview. "I would have hired my own lawyer and defended myself."

The settlement now goes on her permanent medical record, she asserted. "It's going to hurt everything," she said, referring to her part-time private practice. "There are a lot of psychiatrists in New York. Why should they choose me? How can you explain that you settled for $40,000?"

According to Dr. Barouche, Ms. Devlin told her the decision was made for "financial" reasons.

"There is nothing in the record of this case to indicate any wrongdoing on the part of Dr. Barouche," said Fay Leoussis, the Chief of the Law Department's Tort Division. "A decision to settle a case is not an acknowledgement of any wrongdoing, but as in this case, [it] is often a sound business decision." Dr. Barouche noted that most components of the malpractice suit were dismissed in 2001 by U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero in Manhattan. He tossed Officer Torres's First Amendment and conspiracy claims alleging that the department's sick leave policy is unconstitutional. But he allowed his equal protection complaint against Dr. Barouche to be re-filed.

Injured Twice

Officer Torres, who began his career in 1984, was assaulted by inmates during a riot in the Brooklyn House of Detention in 1988. The assault temporarily left him in a coma with a fractured nose. He spent five days in the hospital.

Nine years later, in October 1997, he fell down the stairs at the same facility and hit his head. He was brought by ambulance to St. Vincent's Hospital and remained there for three days. The fall, he said, brought up memories of the riot and caused him severe emotional distress. As a result, he was placed on sick leave and never returned to work before being granted permanent disability retirement in September 1998, according to the Federal suit.

While on sick leave, he charged that the department "worked on him and tried to harass him out of applying for permanent disability."

Dr. Barouche, who has been practicing medicine for more than 20 years, said that she reviewed Mr. Torres's personal doctor's diagnoses and the legitimacy of his petition. "I never disputed what they said," she remarked.

Barred From Funeral?

Based on department regulations, officers on sick leave must remain home except for four "recreation hours" or during scheduled medical visits. Mr. Torres charged that the department denied him permission to attend a fellow officer's funeral service and was only allowed to attend part of the wake.

He also complained that Dr. Barouche and her colleagues at the Health Management Division (HMD) failed to use reasonable care and maliciously and deliberately ignored his condition.

The city countered that HMD personnel merely read and reviewed the medical reports filed by his personal doctors.

Judge Marrero noted that under New York State law, medical malpractice suits must prove that the doctor deviated from accepted practice and that the change was a direct cause of injury or damage. Mr. Torres's complaint "is not specific enough to survive a motion to dismiss, but leave to re-plead will be permitted," Judge Marrero ruled.

'Exacerbated' Trauma

Mr. Torres then filed his complaint in Queens Supreme Court. That suit named only Dr. Barouche, claiming that she tried to coerce him to come back to work. "She did so knowing that she was further exacerbating his emotional harms," the complaint claimed.

Ms. Barouche passionately denied the accusation and noted that she always signed off on his disability claim. "Could you imagine if someone was sent back to work, what happens then?" she asked indignantly. "The death penalty for us?"

Other officers, she added, will now try to take advantage of the city with similar "baseless" complaints. "Can you blame them?" she asked. "I would do the same thing."

The entire incident has made her feel "powerless," she remarked. "I can understand that the city wants to save money, but they should have let me represent myself," she added. "It's a travesty of justice."