A Texas hospital accused of negligently hiring a nurse who then allegedly sexually assaulted a patient could be held liable for the attack, a recent appellate court ruled.

A female patient who claims a male nurse assaulted her as she recovered from surgery has accused the Humble (Texas) Surgical Hospital of failing to perform adequate background checks and properly training staff on sexual misconduct prevention.

According to court records, Christy Traynor underwent spinal surgery at the facility in December 2011. The night after her surgery, nurse Kelly Joe Bunyard entered her room and began massaging her neck. He then allegedly proceeded to continue to massage down her back, untying her hospital gown and touching her buttocks. Ms. Traynor says in court documents that she was unable to speak or reach the call bell during this time and that she "feared she was about to be raped."

Following the incident — as well as a report of another assault from a different patient — the Texas Board of Nursing temporarily suspended Mr. Bunyard's license. He later voluntarily surrendered his license following an investigation into the accusations in 2012.

In 2014, Ms. Traynor filed a lawsuit against Humble Surgical Hospital and its affiliates, claiming that it should be held responsible for the assault since it had hired Mr. Bunyard without a proper background check, and that it failed to train its staff on sexual misconduct suspicion, reporting and prevention. The hospital rejected this claim and asked a lower court to dismiss the case. That request was denied by the county court.

The hospital then appealed the denial, though it lost again when a Texas appellate court upheld the lower court's ruling this week. The case will now head to trial, which is tentatively scheduled for the end of this month, according to public records.

Representatives for Humble Surgical Hospital and Ms. Traynor did not return requests for comment. Mr. Bunyard could not be reached for comment.

Kendal Gapinski