Pinoy doctor pays $20K for assaulting ex-girlfriend

NEW JERSEY — A prominent Filipino cardiologist in New Jersey (NJ) was ordered to pay the amount of $20,000 for assaulting a woman he met at a strip club.

A jury in Hackensack, NJ, ordered the award after Dr. Benjamin Co, 51, was found guilty of beating up Jane Haigh, 31, whom he accused of cheating on him while they were in a relationship, according to reports in the North Jersey press.

Haigh said the September 2006 assault caused "permanent injury" to her back. Co countersued, asking Haigh to pay him back in the amount of $700,000 for all the gifts he had given her, including a condo, luxury cars and access to credit cards in the amount of $10,000 a month.

In the decision, the jury said the fee of $20,000 is nominal, in recognition that the woman was indeed "harmed, but the harm did not rise to the level claimed in the lawsuit."

Haigh’s lawyer said the woman was “not all that happy" with the decision.

The jury likewise dismissed Co’s counterclaim for a return of his gifts to Haigh. Co’s lawyer said the doctor is "pleased" with the decision.

Reports say the two met in 2002 at a Rockland County strip club where she was working to support her college education. It was revealed that Co had asked Haigh to quit her job and offered to support her schooling.

As the two became lovers in 2006, Co discovered she was exchanging emails with other men.

"That’s when the beatings started," she said.

Haigh finished her masters and is now working in a diabetes health care facility. The trial held at the Superior Court in Hackensack lasted two weeks.

The jury comprised six men and two women. Co was placed on probation under a domestic violence program for first-time offenders.

Co graduated with a medical degree from the University of the Philippines in 1981 and had his residency at the New York Hospital Medical Center in Queens and the Newark Beth Israel Medical Center. He has a clinic in Ridgewood, NJ. - Philippine News

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