The San Francisco Chronicle reports that three women who say they were sexually assaulted by an Oakland doctor who reviewed their cases for workers’ compensation claims have sued the state of California and several insurance providers, alleging the agencies were aware of the doctor’s abuse and continued sending patients to him anyway.

The women, who are not identified in the complaint, were required to see Dr. John Warbritton after being injured while at work and filing for workers’ compensation with the state. They each said they reported the alleged abuse by Warbritton and were told they would have to continue seeing him for their claims to proceed.

Warbritton was a QME, and an orthopedic specialist in the East Bay since 1982 but lost his medical license in April 2017, after two of the women accused him of sexual misconduct. Warbritton voluntarily gave up his license.

At the time, Warbritton’s license was already suspended because of charges filed against him in 2016 for transporting child pornography images on his phone and a laptop while flying from Thailand to San Francisco. Warbritton pleaded guilty to the child pornography charges and was sentenced to seven years in prison in September 2018.

The new complaint, filed Jan. 22 in Alameda County Superior Court, alleges that Warbritton’s history of abuse toward female patients was so well known that the agencies that worked with him should be held accountable. The complaint is filed as a class action, and attorney Waukeen McCoy said he expects more women to join the case as it becomes public.

Three insurance providers also are named as defendants: Travelers Indemnity Company in Hartford, Conn.; JT2 Integrated Resources in Oakland; and York Risk Services Group in Jersey City, N.J. Officials from those companies did not respond to requests for comment on the complaint.

Warbritton was suspended as a QME in February 2018, 10 months after he lost his medical license and while the child pornography charges were under investigation.

All of the women said they reported being molested by Warbritton to their lawyers, and in some cases to other doctors treating them and to the insurance providers. One woman said in an interview that her attorney had heard similar complaints about Warbritton before.

In the complaint, the women describe multiple incidents of inappropriate language and touching. All of the women said he touched them on the breast, thigh or between the legs in an inappropriate way. They say Warbritton made comments about their bodies and their undergarments. They say he talked about his sex life and made references to having sex with employees when they were underage.