A Michigan hospital accused of complying with a patient's request that no black staff members treat his infant daughter has settled a lawsuit brought by an African-American nurse who claimed that administrators took her off the child's case due to her race; however, the hospital is now the target of another discrimination lawsuit filed by a second nurse. That woman said she does not want to settle and intends to bring the case before a trial in order to "see what the community thinks about it."
The alleged discrimination occurred when a man complained to a hospital supervisor after finding that the original plaintiff was caring for his newborn daughter. He reportedly showed the supervisor what appeared to be a swastika tattoo on his arm and demanded that no African-American nurses or doctors be allowed to care for the child. The initial plaintiff contends that she was then transferred to another case.
Although the hospital denied honoring the man's request, a leaked image of the girl's chart was published online with a note informing hospital staff not to assign black nurses to the child. Hospital administrators never publicly acknowledged the note, but promptly reached a settlement with the nurse to put an end to the lawsuit. The hospital's CEO announced the settlement, stressing that the hospital opposes racial discrimination of any kind. "We regret that are policies were not well enough understood and followed, causing the perception that Hurley condoned this conduct," she explained. She did not comment on the second lawsuit.
Despite the announcement of the settlement, Michigan's chapter of the National Action Network said it would still hold a protest outside the hospital. The chapter's political director wants to stop what it sees as the institutional hospital practices that prompted the purported discrimination.
Source: AOL Jobs, "Michigan Hospital Settes Nurse's Explosive Race-Discrimination Suit, Gets Hit With Another," Feb. 24, 2013
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