Doctor must pay for making
Hindu woman's life "dismal"
YUBA CITY (2/18/03) -- A physician must pay a former employee $175,000 for making her life "dismal" because he allegedly sexually harassed her seven years ago, court records showed Tuesday.
Dr. Arjinder Singh Sekhon, 60, must pay Shobhana Sharma, 27, that amount, "plus costs," Thomas L. Hill said in an eight-page decision describing the miserable home life the doctor's alleged acts relegated the 27-year-old student.
"She is not allowed to eat at the table with (her husband's) family nor is she allowed to do her laundry in the home, rather must use a laundromat. She is generally scorned and/or ignored," wrote Hill, a former Sutter County judge.
Sharma initially filed suit in Sutter County Superior Court in 1997 alleging the lung specialist had touched and kissed her inappropriately and exploited her religious beliefs to gain his ends.
Sekhon -- a lung specialist who last year ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Yuba City City Council -- has denied all Sharma's allegations throughout the dispute.
Sharma, a Hindu, worked as an "extern" for Sekhon, a Sikh, for nine weeks from March to May 1996. She was 20 at the time and unmarried -- culturally important factors in the drama, according to Hill.
"The plaintiff contends that from day one, the defendant was either touching or kissing her on virtually a daily basis," Hill recounted.
On two occasions Sekhon examined her as a patient and inappropriately ordered her to disrobe so he could examine her asthma, Sharma alleged.
Hill attributed Sharma's failure to complain to "a cultural component" of the fundamentalist Hindu religion she followed.
In the Hindu religion, "it is a disgrace for an unmarried woman to be sexually touched or talked to in a sexually suggestive manner, even though she has no desire to participate," Hill wrote.
For example, "A rape of an unmarried Hindu is a despoliation of the woman which can cause her to be ostracized even by her own family and effects her ability to be married," Hill wrote.
Sekhon knew this and used it to gain leverage with her, Sharma alleged.
Sharma finally quit her job and in 1997 filed suit in Sutter County Superior Court.
A Sutter jury awarded Sharma $483,000 in 1998, but Sekhon appealed. A state appellate court tossed out the jury judgment in 2000, and ordered the matter to arbitration, court documents showed.
Sharma has since moved to Southern California where she eventually wed in a marriage arranged by her parents.
But the facts of the alleged incidents became known to her new husband and her mother-in-law, and as a result, "the relationship in the home … is, by the plaintiff's accounts, dismal" Hill wrote.
Sharma testified that she "basically trapped in marriage (and) divorce is the only worse than living in a bad marriage. Again, this is a cultural condition," Hill wrote.
Hindu woman's life "dismal"
YUBA CITY (2/18/03) -- A physician must pay a former employee $175,000 for making her life "dismal" because he allegedly sexually harassed her seven years ago, court records showed Tuesday.
Dr. Arjinder Singh Sekhon, 60, must pay Shobhana Sharma, 27, that amount, "plus costs," Thomas L. Hill said in an eight-page decision describing the miserable home life the doctor's alleged acts relegated the 27-year-old student.
"She is not allowed to eat at the table with (her husband's) family nor is she allowed to do her laundry in the home, rather must use a laundromat. She is generally scorned and/or ignored," wrote Hill, a former Sutter County judge.
Sharma initially filed suit in Sutter County Superior Court in 1997 alleging the lung specialist had touched and kissed her inappropriately and exploited her religious beliefs to gain his ends.
Sekhon -- a lung specialist who last year ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Yuba City City Council -- has denied all Sharma's allegations throughout the dispute.
Sharma, a Hindu, worked as an "extern" for Sekhon, a Sikh, for nine weeks from March to May 1996. She was 20 at the time and unmarried -- culturally important factors in the drama, according to Hill.
"The plaintiff contends that from day one, the defendant was either touching or kissing her on virtually a daily basis," Hill recounted.
On two occasions Sekhon examined her as a patient and inappropriately ordered her to disrobe so he could examine her asthma, Sharma alleged.
Hill attributed Sharma's failure to complain to "a cultural component" of the fundamentalist Hindu religion she followed.
In the Hindu religion, "it is a disgrace for an unmarried woman to be sexually touched or talked to in a sexually suggestive manner, even though she has no desire to participate," Hill wrote.
For example, "A rape of an unmarried Hindu is a despoliation of the woman which can cause her to be ostracized even by her own family and effects her ability to be married," Hill wrote.
Sekhon knew this and used it to gain leverage with her, Sharma alleged.
Sharma finally quit her job and in 1997 filed suit in Sutter County Superior Court.
A Sutter jury awarded Sharma $483,000 in 1998, but Sekhon appealed. A state appellate court tossed out the jury judgment in 2000, and ordered the matter to arbitration, court documents showed.
Sharma has since moved to Southern California where she eventually wed in a marriage arranged by her parents.
But the facts of the alleged incidents became known to her new husband and her mother-in-law, and as a result, "the relationship in the home … is, by the plaintiff's accounts, dismal" Hill wrote.
Sharma testified that she "basically trapped in marriage (and) divorce is the only worse than living in a bad marriage. Again, this is a cultural condition," Hill wrote.
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