Nine women are accusing an Athens doctor of sexual harassment. The women were workers at the Heath Wealth Safe Clinic on Prince Avenue in Athens. They say they were subjected to inappropriate sexual advances from Dr. Subodh Agrawal. His office is disputing the allegations and the doctor has filed a countersuit.
From WSB TV…
Nine women came forward Monday saying the doctor they worked for repeatedly sexually harassed them in his Athens office.
“I couldn’t defend myself. I couldn’t tell him no,” Amelia Chavous said.
Channel 2 Action News spoke exclusively to one of the women who said she felt like they couldn’t stop him.
Chavous said she took a work-from-home job with Health Wealth Safe Clinic in Athens in December 2019. She says the first time she went to the office, Dr. Subodh Agrawal sexually harassed her.
“One particular time, Dr. Agrawal rubbed my arm and told me I needed sexual release and went into talking about Kama Sutra,” Chavous said.
She told Huddleston she complained to her manager, but was told if she didn’t like it, she could leave. She also said she felt trapped because Agrawal’s wife worked in the human resources department.
“I wanted to leave the second I was caressed, or touched badly. I wanted to be gone,” Chavous said. “I started looking for jobs.”
Chavous said she was promoted to a management position overseeing 60 other people, but she says the harassment continued. She, along with eight other women, filed a lawsuit against the clinic and Agrawal. The women’s attorney, Adeash Lakraj said she just wanted to keep the harassment from happening to anyone else.
“My main priority is to make sure this doesn’t happen to any other women in Clark County,” Lakraj said. “Or anywhere.”
Agrawal didn’t provide comment, but the company sent this statement from Dawn Dobbs, clinical director:
“Health Wealth Safe, and Dr. Agrawal, deny the validity of these claims, which are meritless and look forward to the opportunity to establish a complete and factually accurate account of the underlying events. We remain committed to equal employment opportunity principles and the business of promoting good health. Since litigation is pending, including motions to dismiss, we have no further comment at this time.”