Friday, February 5, 2010

A Woman Scorned

One of the best ways to make a blogger's day, especially one whose blog is based on entertainment or amusement, is to hand him a real life story that's funnier than anything he (or she) could possibly have made up. Yesterday, The Waterloo Region Record handed me just such a story.

Seems one Dr. Vincent Leering, a local chiropractor, had been treating his girlfriend. Unfortunately, the relationship eventually soured, as relationships sometimes will, and the two broke up, upon which Dr. Leering referred her outstanding bills to a collection agency. I can't help but suspect that this was probably done more out of anger and spite than out of financial need.

Bad mistake.

Women are almost always smarter then men. That goes double for men who are in any way emotionally agitated and not quite reasoning at full capacity. I can almost hear Leering's ex muttering "So that's how you want to play, is it?" after getting the first call from the collection agency. She filed a complaint with the Ontario College of Chiropractors, telling them that her chiropractor had been sleeping with her. They, in turn, charged him with sexual abuse and revoked his license to practice for at least five years. Game. Set. Match. The poor guy probably understands now exactly how the Coyote felt after setting up that Burmese tiger trap kit, only to catch a Burmese tiger and then fall into the trap with it.

I have to feel a twinge of pity for Leering. The article makes it clear that he was already involved with the woman before she became his patient. To my mind, that's a very different situation compared to a doctor who makes advances on a patient with whom he'd had no prior relationship. Unfortunately, the optics are still bad, especially when you're cursed with a name like Vincent Leering. It couldn't have been worse unless his name had been Sacha Purvort or Dar T. Oldman. In any case, Leering's ex-girlfriend seemingly realized that the Ontario College of Chiropractors has a zero-tolerance policy about these things, and apparently used that knowledge to her full advantage.

This is one lady that Leering should definitely not have screwed with ... literally.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Perhaps, people should have the full story before passing judgment on a "scorned" woman.

Totally unprofessional on the part of Dr. Leering. You may want to have a look at the paper work on the CCO website.

Halmanator said...

I don't believe I did pass judgement on Dr. Leering's ex, other than commenting that she outsmarted him. He played nasty, so she played nasty right back. He has only himself to blame.

That said, I stand by my opinion that the existence of a personal relationship prior to the professional one impacts the matter greatly. Perhaps Dr. Leering simply shouldn't have accepted his ex as a patient.

If you take this as a precedent, though, no man would ever be able to do business with a wife, girlfriend or any woman whom he knows personally. Doctors couldn't treat their wives. Accountants couldn't do their girlfriends' taxes for them. Cab drivers couldn't drive their wives anywhere. Where does it end?

Runaway political correctness will be our eventual doom.

Anonymous said...

Having some knowledge on the matter. This woman neither had class nor smarts and is given far too much credit. The details of the story as presented in the blog are just not accurate neither is the media spin on the case. People make mistakes even smart people liek Dr Leering. When two emotional dysregulated people meet attempt a relationship quickly find themselves in an unhealthy situation and when the relationship goes south all heck can break loose.

Martin said...

I may not know the full story, as "Anonymous" does, but I don't feel sorry for the doctor. Referring her to a collection agency is the mark of a petty and small man. Its not sexual abuse, but it is very sad and inappropriate behaviour. And yes, it does make for a funny blog post. I wonder if Dr. Leering shares office space with a Dr. Drooling?

Anonymous said...

I also have knowledge on this matter. I agree with the previous poster that this woman is given far too much credit and is not the "victim" she is portrayed to be. These two people were a match made in heaven in that they were both out to scam the insurance company. While he should have been well aware of the zero-tolerance policy, she was also knowingly defrauding the insurance company. The Globe and Mail article stated she was a teacher. Not quite the upstanding citizen I would like to have teaching my children. Sounds like they deserved one another.

Anonymous said...

One in four British chiropractors are under investigation:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/mar/01/simon-singh-libel-case-chiropractors