El Camino Hospital refused to investigate a nurse’s claim that a manager sexually attacked her in a bathroom stall because the alleged incident happened during a retirement party for a co-worker at a downtown San Jose steakhouse, not at the Mountain View health care campus where she worked, a lawsuit against the hospital and the alleged assailant claims.
The manager was arrested and charged earlier this month with sexual battery.
The nurse claimed in her lawsuit that during the retirement party in March 2024 at Morton’s steakhouse attended by El Camino nurses, doctors, managers and directors, manager Evyatar Nitzany followed her into the women’s bathroom and a stall. He allegedly locked the stall door, pinned her against the wall, kissed her forcefully, groped her breast, then exposed his genitals and asked her to perform oral sex.
This news organization is not naming the nurse, as the case concerns an alleged sexual attack.
El Camino Health, which operates the hospital, said Thursday that it took the nurse’s allegations “with the utmost seriousness,” and that it does not tolerate harassment and misconduct.
“We are reviewing the matter and remain committed to maintaining a safe and respectful environment for all employees,” El Camino said, adding that Nitzany is no longer employed at the hospital.
Nitzany, 37, of Los Altos, was arrested in October at the hospital in Mountain View and charged May 1 with sexual battery, indecent exposure and false imprisonment, court records show. His lawyer in the criminal case, Marshall Hammons, said Nitzany did not commit the claimed offenses.
“He is someone with no criminal history or record and the court process will go to show his innocence,” Hammons said Thursday.
San Jose police officers questioned the nurse and arrested Nitzany after a colleague of the nurse contacted the department, according to police reports filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court.
Police spoke to the nurse in the El Camino emergency department, where she had checked herself in saying she was distraught over the alleged attack and having suicidal thoughts, police said.
Nitzany, when approached by police, said he had an “idea” why he was being arrested and that he wanted a lawyer present before answering questions, police said.
One El Camino employee told police she had gone into the bathroom at Morton’s that night, heard a loud noise and giggling, and called out the nurse’s name, but only heard more giggling. Another witness told police the nurse confided in her the next day that Nitzany had pulled her into a stall, groped her breast and exposed himself.
The nurse told police she believed Nitzany was drunk and would not have behaved the way he allegedly did if he had been sober. She had consumed a few drinks that night but was not intoxicated, she told police.
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In the lawsuit filed April 28 in Santa Clara County Superior Court, the nurse claimed that a few days after the alleged incident, she agreed to speak with Nitzany in a meditation room at the hospital, where he pleaded with her to keep quiet.
“In the months that followed, Nitzany continued to pester (her) to inquire if she was going to report the incident to HR,” the lawsuit alleged. “He waited for her in the hallway to hunt her down and followed her into the cafeteria for lunch.”
In late September, the nurse reported the alleged attack to El Camino’s human resources department, and when she followed up with the department 10 days later via email, feeling “anxious and fearful” of Nitzany, she received no response, the lawsuit claimed.
The nurse went to the department a few days later, and was told the hospital would take no action because the incident happened outside the workplace, the lawsuit alleged.
When she said Nitzany was harassing and stalking her at work, she learned that the department had not spoken to Nitzany, the lawsuit claimed.
Two days later an HR official confirmed to the nurse that the department would not pursue an investigation because the alleged attack took place off site, and Nitzany had not stalked or harassed her since September, the lawsuit alleged.
The nurse is seeking unspecified damages.
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