PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Jason Campbell gained social media fame during the height of the COVID-19 crisis for dancing in his scrubs and spreading joy on Tik Tok, dubbing him the “Tik Tok Doc.”
Almost one year later, the Oregon Health & Science University doctor is accused of sexually harassing a former coworker at Portland’s Veterans Affairs Medical Center in a $45 million lawsuit. Campbell was working as a resident at OHSU during the alleged abuse.
The 39-page complaint alleges that Campbell sent the woman unwanted, sexually explicit text messages, “pornographic photographs” and “sexually charged social media messages.”
“Campbell texted my client about (an) orgasm and then blamed it on auto-correct,” said attorney Michael Fuller, who is representing the woman in the suit.
Campbell also allegedly approached the woman from behind in her office and pressed his body against hers, according to the suit.
The woman reported the incident to the VA Hospital security sent Campbell a text message asking him to stop. But Campbell continued to send her text messages, with one saying, “I just want to hug you from behind without you yelling at me.”
All this happened while Campbell had a girlfriend, according to the suit.
The suit also claims that a handful of other doctors and employees in leadership roles took no action to stop the harassment, violating Title IX rules.
Fuller said that some of the doctors, including Dr. Esther Choo who has 189,000 followers on Twitter praised Campbell on social media even after she was reportedly told about the harassment.
“Dr. Choo continued to be buddy-buddy with him,” he said.
In a statement, OHSU said that university “does not condone” the behavior described in the suit.
“We are continuously working to to evolve our culture, policies and practices to provide an environment where all learners, employees, patients and visitors feel safe and welcome.”
Fuller said OHSU had the opportunity to do something about it but said they didn’t ” because these institutions are run by high-paid executives, whose job it is to keep peace and quiet.”
He said when a complaint is filed “they get the lawyers involved right away…And so from our perspective, they just don’t have the proper incentive to change their system. And that’s in part why we’re asking for punitive damages.”
Campbell was most recently hired at the University of Florida’s teaching hospital. Once the hospital learned of the allegations, he was placed on administrative leave.
The hospital issued the following statement:
“The University of Florida and UF College of Medicine in Gainesville recently learned of a new hire who is the subject of allegations of misconduct from a previous institution. The employee was immediately placed on administrative leave pending investigation. They did not begin any official duties on campus nor have contact with any patients. The University of Florida is committed to providing a safe educational, work and residential environment that is free from harassment or misconduct.“