Why Class Action Lawsuits Fail Victims of Medical Sexual Abuse

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Class action lawsuits in California were designed to handle mass claims with common facts and similar injuries. Under Code of Civil Procedure section 382, plaintiffs must show that an adequate representative exists, the class is so numerous that joinder is impracticable, the claims or defenses are typical of the class, and the representative will fairly protect the interests of the class. 

There are many cases where class actions help bring injured people justice. For example, in consumer product cases involving a defective item, those requirements can often be satisfied because many individuals suffer the same type of harm in the same way. The injuries suffered from a defective appliance are fairly uniform. In such cases, a class action may make sense because individual litigation would be inefficient or impossible for many claimants. Litigation is, by its nature, very expensive, and by grouping a large class of people, justice is done in cases that may otherwise be too small to justify bringing them individually.  

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A Recommended Legal Framework in Medical Abuse Cases

In contrast, when the alleged misconduct involves medical or sexual abuse, especially in a hospital or clinical setting, each victim has a unique experience, different injuries, and unique damages. California courts require typicality and commonality to be certified as a class action: the class representative’s claims must align with the class and the legal issues must be common across all class members. 

When victims of a physician at a medical center each endured separate incidents, varying symptoms, diverse medical histories, and disparate emotional and physical injuries, a class action is not an appropriate legal means to get justice for those affected.  That doesn’t mean a class action won’t happen; it means that those whose cases are resolved in the class action get a much smaller settlement award than those who have their own lawyers.  The class action in these cases is like falling in quicksand- once you are stuck in it, it is difficult if not impossible to get out of it.

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Key Reasons Class Actions Often Underserve Medical Abuse Victims

1. Diverse Injuries and Damages
In a medical abuse context, victims’ experiences and the resulting harms vary widely. Some may have endured repeated misconduct, others a single incident; some injuries may include long‐term physical and emotional damage, while others may appear less severe or more indirect. Because class actions treat all class members similarly, they may force victims with serious injuries into a “one‐size‐fits‐all” compensation structure—often limiting awards to predetermined tiers rather than tailoring to individual harm.

2. Compromised Compensation Potential
The hallmark of a class settlement is that all class members who do not opt out are bound by the judgment or settlement and cannot pursue separate claims. In many medical or sexual abuse cases, going at it alone may produce far higher compensation because claimants may present detailed individualized proof of harm. Class actions may lock victims into lesser awards merely because they are part of the class, not because their injuries are minimal.

3. Reduced Individual Control and Transparency
Victims in a class may have limited participation in the litigation, may not receive full discovery rights, and may have little influence over strategy, settlement or trial decisions. If the settlement provides a fixed amount for all, victims with highly serious damages may be forced to accept less than they might obtain in individual litigation. Further, the class process may provide fewer opportunities for full accountability of the wrongdoer.

4. Structural Favorability to Defendants
From the defendant’s perspective, a hospital, a medical center, or a physician class actions offer an efficient way to resolve many claims at once, limit exposure, and avoid individualized trials. This can create a structural trade‐off: the convenience and cost‐control of mass litigation for the defendant may come at the expense of full justice for severely harmed individuals.

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Why Individual Lawsuits May Better Serve Victims of Medical Sexual Abuse

When a victim’s claim involves unique facts, distinct evidence of harm, substantial future medical care, emotional trauma, or ongoing impacts, individual representation typically allows for full exploration of that victim’s unique case. In California, pursuing a separate lawsuit (individually, or as part of a larger group of individuals, also called a “mass tort”) enables the victim to present detailed proof of her injury, ask for appropriate damages, including future care, emotional distress, and punitive damages (if available) and maintain control over settlement decisions.

Moreover, in the medical abuse context, the individual case may generate more tailored results, ensure accountability, and provide the claimant with the opportunity to receive full redress rather than being assigned a share of a broad compensation pot. Where the injuries and the human suffering are profound, bundling claims into a class may diminish both the fairness and the adequacy of the outcome.

Class action lawsuits can be highly effective in California when claimants share uniform harm, common legal questions, and little variation in injury or damages. However, when applied to medical sexual abuse scenarios where each victim’s experience is distinct—the class action device may fail to deliver appropriate justice. Victims in such contexts must carefully evaluate whether joining a class is in their best interest or whether individual litigation may offer more meaningful compensation and accountability. McGrath Kavinoky LLP advises individuals harmed by clinical or medical sexual misconduct to obtain independent legal counsel to assess the best legal path forward.

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