Prominent eye doctor settles with accuser after sexual harassment lawsuit

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A local eye doctor is about to pay one of his former employees in a legal settlement. Channel 9 has been investigating this case since 2017.

Dr. Jonathan Christenbury was an eye doctor in the Charlotte area. Over the last year, he has been the center of two different sexual harassment lawsuits.

Channel 9 obtained federal court documents and discovered a mediation agreement between Christenbury and former employee Nilou Saniri.

The document did not mention how much Christenbury would have to pay.

Saniri was one of two former employees who filed lawsuit against Christenbury.

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The lawsuits accused Christenbury of sexual harassment and wrongful termination. The lawsuit claimed Christenbury had a “history of hiring beautiful young women” and then he would attempt “to pressure them into dating him or having a sexual relationship with him.”

The complaint also alleges Christenbury was acting “creepy” at a fashion show featuring Charlotte Hornet dancers, which included Saniri.

Christenbury was once a well-known eye surgeon in Charlotte. He voluntarily surrendered his medical license and closed his practice in November 2017. This came after patient complaints surfaced including one woman who said he performed a surgery that left her blink in one eye.

Cox Media Group