Oregon jury awards $2.25 million to woman who said paramedic groped her in ambulance

Oregon jury awards $2.25M in paramedic molest case

PORTLAND, Ore. — An Oregon jury has awarded $2.25 million to a woman who claimed a paramedic molested her as she faded in and out of consciousness in the back of an ambulance.

Royshekka Herring had sought $5.5 million claiming the abuse had dramatically damaged her life. The Associated Press normally does not identify victims of sexual abuse, but Herring has allowed her name to be used.

The jury ruled that Portland-based American Medical Response Northwest and its parent company were negligent for failing to keep paramedic Lannie Haszard from escorting the 29-year-old Herring to the hospital.

Three women had complained to the ambulance company or police in the two years leading up to Herring’s abuse. He was sentenced last year to five years in prison for inappropriately touching four women.

Information from: The Oregonian, www.oregonlive.com