A Delaware man who says he awoke from a 2012 colonoscopy to find that he'd been dressed in pink women's underwear while under anesthesia is suing the Delaware Surgery Center in Dover, saying he suffered severe emotional stress and mental anguish as a result, according to news reports.

Andrew Walls, 32, who was employed by the center as an orderly at the time, says in a complaint filed in superior court that the "defendants' extreme and outrageous conduct went beyond all possible bounds of decency" and ultimately caused him to lose his job. The intent, he says, was to "embarrass and/or harass [him] and to cause extreme and outrageous severe emotional distress and injury," adding that at no time did he "voluntarily, knowingly, or intentionally place the pink women's underwear upon himself."

He blames the center for "[failing] to maintain proper policies and procedures for the care of patients with respect to not engaging in extreme and outrageous conduct."

The suit also names the Eden Hill Surgical Group of Dover, which has since been dissolved.

Mr. Walls is seeking unspecified compensation for lost wages and loss of earning capacity, as well as punitive damages.

Calls for comment to the Delaware Surgery Center and to Gary Nitsche, Mr. Walls's lawyer, were not immediately returned.

Jim Burger