Letter to Former Hadden Patients

NOTICE

Columbia University circulated a letter to former Hadden patients to notify them of the existence of the settlement fund. Please be advised that three law firms in New York have filed putative class action lawsuits on behalf of former patients, such as yourself, which allege violations of law, including under the Adult Survivors Act and/or New York City’s Gender Motivated Violence Protection Law. If you are a former patient of Hadden and experienced some form of abuse by Hadden, we encourage you to consult with an attorney of your choosing to ensure that you understand your rights before proceeding.\

Columbia has sent the letter below to almost 6,500 of Robert Hadden's former patients. 

**Please note that the contents of this letter deal with sexual abuse and misconduct.**

Why You Received This Letter

Our records show you were a patient of Robert Hadden, a former obstetrician and gynecologist who was previously employed by Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC) for more than 20 years and who stopped seeing patients in August 2012. Hadden was convicted of federal sexual assault charges in January 2023, and was sentenced to 20 years in prison in July 2023. As part of Columbia’s commitment to address the abuse, harm, and trauma inflicted by Hadden and support survivors, we are notifying former patients of his convictions and that resources are available.

What You Should Know

If you experienced abuse as a patient of Hadden, you are not alone. More than 700 former patients of Hadden have come forward to date about his crimes and misconduct. We are committed to providing support and helping patients abused by Hadden as they process what happened to them and as they heal.

At this website – cuimc.columbia.edu/rebuildingtrust – you can find resources and support for survivors. This website will be regularly updated with developments on Columbia’s efforts to account for these harms. Please continue to check this website for updates.

How to Receive Support

Columbia has also set up a $100 million survivors’ settlement fund. It offers an alternative pathway to receive a financial settlement without needing a lawyer. The fund will open in January for at least one year and will be administered by Simone Lelchuk, an experienced, trauma-informed settlement fund administrator, who will establish fund protocols in consultation with Columbia. Columbia will only be consulted to establish the protocols and not in Simone’s decisions about individual claims. We encourage you to apply to this fund if you are a survivor of Hadden and if you have not settled a claim against Columbia and have not retained counsel in anticipation of filing a legal claim. You can learn more about this fund at this website: www.HaddenSettlementFund.com. You can also contact Simone at (212) 641-0830 and info@HaddenSettlementFund.com and she can answer any questions you might have related to this fund, including if you qualify to apply.

Survivors can also reach out to an attorney to pursue remedies through the Adult Survivors Act, a New York State law that sets November 23, 2023, as a deadline for certain legal actions. If you are already represented by counsel, please share this notice with them.

If you need confidential counseling, support is available by calling RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-HOPE.

Share Your Story

Joan Loughnane, a partner at Sidley Austin, LLP who previously served in a variety of leadership positions in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, will lead an external investigation to determine the circumstances that allowed Hadden’s abuse to continue for so long.

If you would like to report any experience with Hadden or any other information that may be relevant, we encourage you to contact Joan to share your story. She will protect the identity of patients who experienced abuse to the maximum extent permitted by law. Joan has set up a voicemail box at (212) 839-6000 and an email at Haddeninfo@sidley.com where you can provide your contact information, and Joan or members of her team will reach out to you promptly.

Columbia is profoundly sorry for the pain that Hadden’s patients suffered and his exploitation of their trust. We regret the impact the handling of this has had on survivors. We are fully committed to taking steps to right this wrong and to ensure this never happens again.

Sincerely,

Columbia University Irving Medical Center