OXNARD : $1 Million Awarded to Doctor by Jury

A jury awarded nearly $1 million Tuesday to an Oxnard physician who claimed that the mother-daughter team who ran his office embezzled more than $100,000 over a seven-year period.

Shirley Jenkins of Camarillo was ordered to pay $162,978 in actual damages and another $500,000 in punitive damages to Dr. Louis Barbara. Jenkins’ daughter, Barbara Ann, also of Camarillo, was ordered to pay $11,656 plus $300,000 in punitive damages.

After hearing seven days of testimony, the Ventura County Superior Court jury took barely three hours to decide that the Jenkinses had conspired to defraud the doctor.

“Within minutes we realized what the outcome was going to be,” said jury foreman James VanArsdall, adding that most of the deliberations concerned how much to award the physician.

Dr. Barbara’s attorney, David Patrick Callahan, presented evidence that Shirley Jenkins routinely skimmed cash receipts while she managed the doctor’s office and made frequent, unexplained cash deposits into personal bank accounts. Barbara Ann Jenkins, who joined the office staff in 1985, regularly falsified her time cards, Callahan said.

The Jenkinses’ attorney, Bennett Rolfe, argued that the doctor was responsible for the cash-handling practices in his office and had just as much access to the money as his clients.

Rolfe said he expects to appeal the jury’s finding and award. “Of course it’s an outrageous amount,” he said.

Juror Brigett McGee said the panel “hoped to set an example” by imposing punitive damages. “It’s a whole different standard when you’re in a position of trust,” McGee said. “This person trusted them with his business, and they were pulling out the money.”

Shirley Jenkins is awaiting sentencing on charges of filing a false income tax return and forging office checks amounting to $1,200 after her dismissal.