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SOUTHEAST TEXAS RECORD

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Court documents: animal hospital owner attacked veterinary assistant on two occasions

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HOUSTON – A Southwest Houston animal hospital and its owner have been implicated in a lawsuit alleging assault and battery from a former employee.

Court papers filed on Feb. 12 in the Harris County 333rd District Court assert that Dr. Lawrence Dale Eckermann attacked plaintiff Andrew Willis on two occasions during Willis’s employment with Westbury Animal Hospital, P.A.

Willis recalls the first incident last Oct. 7 when Eckermann assisted with the placement of an IV catheter in a large black Labrador.  According to the complainant, Eckermann “jabbed” the needle into Willis’s left forearm and mocked him.

Willis submitted a workers’ compensation claim to seek medical treatment.

The second instance occurred two months after. Willis claimed Eckermann approached Willis and “made a stabbing motion” toward the plaintiff’s chest with a needle he was holding in his hand.

The lawsuit says both incidents were captured on surveillance video, but the respondents terminated Willis in writing without stating a reason.

Consequently, he seeks unspecified monetary damages and a jury trial.

Joshua A. Verde of The Verde Law Firm, PLLC in Houston is representing the complainant.

Harris County 333rd District Court Case No. 2018-9366

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