A New York City ENT surgeon has been arrested for repeated physical abuse and brutal attacks against his girlfriend over several years.
Dr. Joseph Finley, 53, an ear, nose and throat surgeon associated with Northwell Health in NYC, was accused by his live-in girlfriend, Negar Dolatabadi, 40, of physical abuse that caused broken bones and a concussion. She also alleges that he kicked her in the abdomen and caused her to miscarry.
Dolatabadi, a dentist, filed a lawsuit against the surgeon and he now faces several criminal charges, including assault and strangulation, for the alleged incidents that happened between 2020 and 2022.
Dolatabadi alleges that Finley is a heavy drinker, and consumes several glasses of bourbon daily. She said he would attack her more when he was drunk.
Dolatabadi, an immigrant from Iran, said that on one occasion, Finley allegedly hurled her to the floor and she suffered permanent serious injuries.
Finley is denying all the allegations.
According to the lawsuit, Finley broke her ribs and toes, gave her a concussion, injured her ear, and tried to strangle her. There is a list of complaints, and the worst one was in March 2021, when she says Finley’s attack made her suffer a miscarriage when he kicked her in the abdomen.
The couple got together in March 2020 and moved in together a few months later. Dolatabadi says that the abuse started about two months after she moved in. He physically attacked her and called her derogatory names. He made an effort to stop drinking after the first incident but started again in July 2020 when he assaulted her again.
And still she didn’t leave.
During the second attack in July 2020, Finley beat her and threatened to kill her, leaving her on the bathroom floor with a concussion and bleeding. He hit her so badly that for two days, she was sick and vomiting. When she said she wanted to see a doctor, he told her he was a doctor and she didn’t need anyone or anything else.
And still she didn’t leave.
Finley kept her from talking out about the attacks by threatening to report her to immigration authorities. During one episode, he told her he would send her “terrorist ass” back to Iran. He threatened to kill her if she ruined his career. She was terrified of him.
In October 2020, he broke her toe. In December 2021, he pushed her to the floor, causing an injury to the same toe.
The situation got worse when in February 2022, Dolatabadi found out she was pregnant. In around March 2022, she alleges that the surgeon kicked her in her abdomen even though he knew that she was pregnant. She got the news that she had miscarried a few days later when she went to an obstetrician who told her that the fight had likely caused it.
The same day, Finley punched her in the face and told her she deserved the miscarriage.
And still she didn’t leave.
The straw broke the camel’s back in May 2022, when Finley attacked his girlfriend for the last time.
After that, she had had enough.
Dolatabadi’s lawsuit includes a foot injury that the dentist says prevented her from working for two years. She said that she had been robbed of her career as a dentist due to Finley’s abuse. She says he ruined her life and threatened her career as well as her life.
Dr. Finley was arrested on September 25, 2022, and charged with one count of second-degree strangulation, six counts of third-degree assault, and two counts of third-degree criminal mischief, according to an NYC criminal court complaint.
The doctor is out on bail and will return to court on February 8, 2023.
