From the Detroit Free Press: An African-American nurse who is suing a Flint hospital because she said it agreed to a man's request that no African-American nurses care for his newborn recalled Monday that she was stunned by her employer's actions.
"I didn't even know how to react," said Tonya Battle, 49, a veteran of the neonatal intensive care unit and a nearly 25-year employee of the Hurley Medical Center.
Battle's lawsuit states a note was posted on the assignment clipboard reading "No African American nurse to take care of baby," according to the eight-page complaint against the medical center.
Hurley, which according to its website was founded in 1908 and is a 443-bed teaching hospital, released a brief statement Monday, saying that it "does not comment on past or current litigation."
Battle said she was working as a registered nurse in Hurley's neonatal intensive care unit Oct. 31, when a man walked into the NICU, where Battle was at an infant's bedside. He reached toward the child, according to the lawsuit filed in Genesee County Circuit Court last month.
"I introduced myself to him. 'Hi, I'm Tonya and I'm taking care of your baby. Can I see your (identification) band?' " Battle said, referring to the hospital-issued identification used to identify infants' parents. "And he said in return, 'And I need to see your supervisor.' "
Perplexed by his curtness, she asked for the charge nurse, who spoke separately to the man.
When the charge nurse returned, she told Battle that the father didn't want African Americans to care for his child. Further, the charge nurse told Battle that he had rolled up his sleeve to expose what appeared to be a swastika.
"I felt like I froze," Battle said. "I just was really dumbfounded. I couldn't believe that's why he was so angry (and) that's why he was requesting my charge nurse. I think my mouth hit the floor. It was really disbelief." http://www.freep.com/article/20130219/NEWS06/302190075/Nurse-sues-says-hospital-backs-dad-s-request-that-no-blacks-treat-his-newborn?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE
The hospital should have not have agreed to the dad's demand and they should have told him the best nurses available are going to treat your baby, no matter what skin color the nurse is.
But I don't know what the nurse would be suing for and what actual damages she suffered.
But the hospital was wrong in letting the father decide who was going to treat their kid.
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I always regard any claims of racism and so-called "hate crimes" with a healthy amount of skepticism. Most that have been reported turned out to be hoaxes, with the supposed victim having turned out to have comitted the offense to get attention. Apparently living in peace isn't enough for these people.
ReplyDeleteThis story smells fishy and I have a hunch it's going to turn out to be just such a hoax.
You could be right magicdog. When I have worked at some hospitals and nursing homes, the older patients have requested things like this, but they were denied.
ReplyDeleteNow, it appears Al Sharpton is involved and the hospital denies the allegations. So, yes, I think this may be a hoax or perhaps the nurse is trying to embarrass the father for his request.
To be honest, I don't think I would trust the nurse to take care of my loved one- not because of her race but because of her behavior and her handling of the situation.