Woman sues MultiCare, former employee over secretly forced abortion pills
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- A nurse practitioner in Gig Harbor secretly put abortion pills into his girlfriend.
- The victim is now suing the man, his wife and his ex-employer, Tacoma-based MultiCare.
- In response to the lawsuit, MultiCare says patient safety is of its “highest importance.”
Tacoma-based MultiCare and a married former employee in Gig Harbor who forced self-prescribed abortion pills into his girlfriend, who was also his patient, are being sued by the victim in a lawsuit that alleges “institutional betrayal,” court records show.
The Pierce County woman, identified by her initials in the filing, claims that MultiCare breached its duties by representing itself as a trustworthy health care system, leading her to choose nurse practitioner David Benjamin Coots as her primary care provider, but knew or should have known that Coots presented a risk of danger to others.
“MultiCare Health System places the highest importance on the safety and well-being of our patients,” spokesman Scott Thompson said in a statement Nov. 12. “While we cannot discuss details of ongoing litigation, we remain committed to delivering safe, high-quality care and to upholding the trust placed in us by our patients and community.”
Coots, 44, was sentenced in July to a year and a day in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree and fourth-degree assault and tampering with a witness, a charge related to his efforts to pay off the woman with money and gifts to not go to the authorities. Coots’ wife, Melissa Coots, pleaded guilty in June 2024 to attempted witness tampering for also trying to pay off the victim but avoided jail time on the condition that she stays free from trouble for two years, The News Tribune previously reported.
The lawsuit, filed Nov. 7 in Pierce County Superior Court, alleges that the couple intentionally and negligently inflicted emotional distress. David Coots is additionally accused in the civil complaint of assault and battery. MultiCare, which operates MultiCare Gig Harbor Medical Park where Coots worked, was allegedly negligent in its hiring, retention, training and supervision of employees and engaged in gender-based discrimination, according to the suit.
“The grooming, sexual harassment, and sexual abuse suffered by Plaintiff by Defendant Coots is unlawful discrimination which occurred in a place of public accommodation,” the suit said.
In an interview Nov. 12, attorney Cole Douglas, who represents the plaintiff, acknowledged the lawsuit was “very salacious.” His client didn’t want the same thing to happen to anyone else, he said. Douglas added that the relationship between the plaintiff and Coots, who are no longer together, wasn’t real because Coots had allegedly groomed and manipulated the plaintiff from his position of authority.
Ultimately, MultiCare had a responsibility as Coots’ employer to regulate its workers and train others how to spot bad behaviors. Part of the lawsuit describes Coots’ attempt to have sex with the plaintiff during an in-office physical examination for her injured shoulder.
“I think it’s important for people to operate in their world and their environment where they can trust (health care providers), but they also have to understand that the entities designed to protect them might not being doing their best job,” Douglas said. “We do need accountability on these overarching entities that control the providers.”
The lawsuit repeats key elements that emerged during law enforcement’s investigation and the subsequent court proceedings in the case.
Coots’ medical relationship with the victim, who was in her 30s, had developed into a romantic one in fall 2023, The News Tribune previously reported. Coots, who has five children, had said he was in the process of getting a divorce and feigned support when the victim informed him that she believed she was pregnant in January 2024, the suit said.
That same month, Coots added the prescription medication Mifepristone, used to terminate early pregnancies, in a coffee beverage without the victim’s knowledge and provided her the drink, according to the suit. The next day, during a consensual sex encounter, Coots inserted four pills wrapped in foil — later determined to be Misoprostol, a drug used for medical abortions — inside the victim’s vagina, again without her knowledge.
The victim told police that she went to an emergency room and suffered abnormal bleeding and stomach pain for three days. A subsequent pregnancy test was negative, although a doctor couldn’t confirm whether there was a pregnancy or miscarriage, The News Tribune previously reported. The victim told police that, before then, she received five positive pregnancy tests and an inconclusive one, according to court records in Coots’ criminal case.
Coots’ defense team argued that the victim was never pregnant and could not have miscarried. During his sentencing hearing in July, his attorney, Dawn Farina, portrayed Coots as an upstanding citizen who served in the U.S. Army and had acted out of character. Several friends and family members submitted letters to the court in his support. Coots was emotional and offered apologies, including to the victim, The News Tribune reported.
“I do take full responsibility for my actions, and I hope all people affected can find peace, closure and a sense of safety,” he said. “I acted in a manner contradicting my own morals.”
No legal representation in the civil matter was shown Nov. 12 for David or Melissa Coots in court records.
David Coots’ registered nursing license was summarily suspended in April 2024 by the state Board of Nursing, and it remained so Nov. 12, according to Washington State Department of Health records. A Board of Nursing spokesperson told The News Tribune in July that the board intended to request revocation of Coots’ licensing, although the legal process could take months.
“As a result of the sexual misconduct and institutional betrayal, (the plaintiff) has experienced a variety of negative symptoms,” the lawsuit said, such as anxiety, sleep disturbances and other issues that meet criteria for post-traumatic stress and generalized anxiety disorders.
The suit is seeking unspecified damages, including for expenses from the plaintiff’s medical and psychological treatments, as well as legal fees.
This story was originally published November 13, 2025 at 5:30 AM.
