MSNBC Settles ‘Uterus Collector’ Lawsuit

As predicted here, MSNBC’s parent company has settled a defamation lawsuit filed against the network brought by a doctor who was dubbed the “uterus collector.” The trial in this case was set to begin in April and MSNBC has wisely decided there was no upside to taking this to court.

MSNBC parent company, NBCUniversal, has settled its “uterus collector” lawsuit that saw Rachel Maddow, Nicolle Wallace, and Chris Hayes’ programs make “verifiably false” statements that a Georgia gynecologist Dr. Mahendra Amin performed unnecessary hysterectomies at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) center.  

The parties have agreed to, and signed, a term sheet to settle the lawsuit, according to a joint notice of settlement obtained by Fox News Digital. The parties are working to finalize the language of the settlement agreement and are expected to effectuate the settlement within the next several weeks…

Maddow, Hayes and Wallace were among potential witnesses if it reached trial, along with NBC News reporters Jacob Soboroff and Julia Ainsley, MSNBC producer Denis Horgan, senior director of stands and practices Mary Lockhart, deputy head of standards Chris Scholl and others.

It’s likely that the amount of the settlement will be hidden as part of the agreement but the original lawsuit was seeking $30 million. And given the facts in this case, I think they might have gotten every bit of it. 

Dr. Mahendra Amin is an obstetrician gynecologist who provided medical care women at an ICE detention center. A “whistleblower” named Dawn Wooten, a nurse who worked in the facility, came forward and alleged that she’d heard stories about Dr. Amin was carrying out unnecessary surgeries.

She did not meet or work with the gynaecologist, who was later identified as Dr Mahendra Amin and is understood to be still practising, but she heard references to the “uterus collector” from a detainee.

In fact, Dawn Wooten didn’t even know the name of the doctor allegedly responsible. This garish tale made its way to MSNBC immigration reporter Jacob Soboroff who had boosted his career reporting on the Trump family separation story. He and another reporter, Julia Ainsley, wrote several articles including one focused on the claims about unnecessary surgeries.

Initially, MSNBC’s standards department pushed back and said the story wasn’t ready for publication, but after they did a bit more work it was given a green light. As soon as the print story appeared, MSNBC’s hosts jumped on it. Nicolle Wallace, Chris Hayes and Rachel Maddow all did reports on it.

Maddow opened her show with: “It was not the first Trump administration scandal. It was certainly, certainly, certainly not the last.” She then provided commentary on the Trump Administration’s family separation policies and the then-Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement. Maddow stated: “But the reason I’m bringing it all up again tonight is because now we have arrived at the next chapter in this same story. And I’m not going to dance around it. I’m just going to say it, and I guess we should have seen it coming, but still, it’s a shock.” Maddow then began reporting on the whistleblower’s allegations. Id. During this segment, Maddow read portions of the whistleblower letter, played a recording of Soboroff’s interview of Wooten, and interviewed Soboroff.

I’m sure Rachel Maddow was convinced she was speaking truth to power but in fact, much of what she was saying wasn’t true. Judge Lisa Godbey Wood looked at the claims and concluded they could be proved verifiably false.

The undisputed evidence has established that: (1) there were no mass hysterectomies or high numbers of hysterectomies at the facility; (2) Dr. Amin performed only two hysterectomies on female detainees from the ICDC; and (3) Dr. Amin is not a “uterus collector.”…

The issue here is not that NBC reported that Plaintiff treated ICE detainees when he actually treated state prisoners, or that he performed the procedures at his office when he actually performed them at a hospital. NBC did not get some innocuous details wrong. The alleged falsehoods are a night-and-day difference from the alleged truth. The damage done to Plaintiff’s reputation by the accusations that he physically hurt women, that he removed women’s reproductive organs without their consent, and that he performed unnecessary hysterectomies and medical procedures is materially different from any damage the pleaded truth would have caused—Plaintiff’s assertion that he did not injure any patients, always acted with consent, and performed only medically necessary procedures.

As mentioned above, the trial was set to start in April. It doesn’t appear that MSNBC had much of a defense to offer but I guess we’ll never know. It may be a few days or weeks until the agreement is final, but at some point I’m guessing MSNBC will issue an on-air apology in addition to paying Dr. Amin a boatload of money.

The real question is what happens next. Jacob Soboroff has likely cost the company many times his annual salary with this bogus story. Will MSNBC keep him around or will they decide now it a good moment to cut ties.