Lawsuit: Race-based request sidelined Michigan nurse

cnn.com

(CNN) -- (CNN) -- A nurse is suing a hospital, claiming it agreed to a man's request that no African-Americans care for his baby.

The lawsuit accuses managers at Hurley Medical Center in Flint of reassigning Tonya Battle, who has worked at the facility for 25 years, based on the color of her skin.

The man approached Battle, while she was caring for his child in the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit, asking to speak to her supervisor, according to the complaint filed in January by Battle's attorney.

She pointed the charge nurse in his direction.

This is a very bad, but very complicated situation for the hospital.

It is not illegal to be racist, but any entity receiving federal funds cannot practise racism.

Frankly, I am quite surprised that the hospital even honored their request. But one comment made a very good point that if they insisted on the AA nurse taking care of the baby, most likely the bigot would of found reasons to sue her for malpractise of some sorts.

It was a no win situation.

The bigot should of done us all a favor, first by not reproducing, but by hiring a white midwife to take care of the birth at home. But if the baby has been in NICU, that might not be an option.

But if you must rely on public hospitals, you take what you get.

Should a patient have a right to demand who takes care of them?

I`m not surprised that they honored his request i`m more surprised that they didn`t lie about why the nurse was being reassigned somewhere else to save them the trouble of defending a law suit.

I hope she wins the case. And I hope that child doesn't end up like its horrible father.

reply to post by DaTroof


So because someone is racist, she deserves money for that? PATHETIC!!!!

I don't see the problem, he had a request and they obliged. Nobody was hurt and the nurse was not fired over the whole thing. Im sure there was plenty else going on in the hospital so I would wager that she was not forced to clock out so there was no real loss of income there.
I really don't see what the issue is, nobody was hurt and nobody lost anything. His life his baby he should be able to make his own decisions as long as they are not hurting anyone.
And lets face it, if it were the other way around it would spun that it was somehow racist NOT to fulfill the request.
I have been discriminated against numerous times because of my race and religion, where is my check?

yep, for services provided in a Public hospital, she should win.

her supervisor should have suggested he (father) hire a private nurse and then prepared to discharge AMA.
if dad really wants to be 'responsible' for the baby's care, then he should do so.

actually, if the Dad were operating within his supposed 'belief', the 'weak' child wouldn't need further care and this would be a non-issue ... ironic isn't it ?

sorry Nix, missed this question ...

Should a patient have a right to demand who takes care of them?

in a public hospital, no.
although, it does happen frequently in privately-owned ones.
[from all sides of the fence too ... the origin matters not, racists are who they are]

The hospital was passively racist by supporting a race-based decision. The hospital should have explained that they assign work based on skill level, experience and not on ethnicity.

The nurse should feel insulted and has a case.

In my humble opinion.

Originally posted by beezzer
The hospital was passively racist by supporting a race-based decision. The hospital should have explained that they assign work based on skill level, experience and not on ethnicity.

lol, then the hospital turns around and hires nurses based on ethnicity and not skill level or experience.
en.wikipedia.org...

Originally posted by DaTroof
I hope she wins the case. And I hope that child doesn't end up like its horrible father.

Really you hope she wins? So you hope that she gets tons of your tax dollars because some guy was a jerk and she was not harmed nor deprived of anything?

Originally posted by Superhans

Originally posted by beezzer
The hospital was passively racist by supporting a race-based decision. The hospital should have explained that they assign work based on skill level, experience and not on ethnicity.

lol, then the hospital turns around and hires nurses based on ethnicity and not skill level or experience.
en.wikipedia.org...

Touche'

Point taken.

Wonder how he'd feel about a black surgeon saving his or his child's life.

I'd be very offended if someone suggested i couldn't perform my job professionally purely because of my skin colour. By honouring his requested. the hospital seems to have validated his train of thought, which is completely unacceptable.

Its a public service mate, you take it or leave it.

Sounds like a neo crackhead enjoying free medical care. Hurley is a great baby hospital in a hell hole neighborhood. Kid over a month in the hospital sounds like a crack baby to me

reply to post by nixie_nox


I am in no way condoning this half-wit Nazi racists insecurities.

I do however feel the need to point out Muslims are just as bad, they wont let caucasians touch there dead, even to bury them.

We all bleed the same colour, time people released this and rid themselves of there racial and religious insecurities!

I'm sure this happens all the time when people ask for doctors, some people want jewish doctors, some want indian doctors, etc, etc.... Sure it's stupid and to make a lawsuit out of it is even more ignorant... It's only really news because it was a WHITE person asking for some NON WHITE to not take care of them, we hear these stories all the time, never the other side of the coin that happens on a daily basis.....

I went to the ER once because I felt really sick and they were trying to hook me up to IV's but the young kid doing it couldn't find a vein. He stated he was an intern just learning and after the 6th poke I called the doctor over and told them that I am not a practice dummy and I wanted a professional to work on me.

They obliged much to the thanks of my poor arm.

So do I get to sue the government since as a white business owner I can't get a government contract? Only minority owned (read black owned) entities get to do that.

reply to post by nixie_nox


I see you calling this man a "bigot".

Do you consider the government bigotted also since white business owners can't secure government contracts?

Only black businesses can.

Just asking so we can put this in perspective.

Originally posted by SearchLightsInc
Its a public service mate, you take it or leave it.

Not when you are paying out of pocket. Remember that the US is NOT the UK.

Originally posted by HandyDandy
reply to post by nixie_nox

 

I see you calling this man a "bigot".

Do you consider the government bigotted also since white bussiness owners can't secure government contracts?

Only black bussinesses can.

Just asking so we can put this in perspective.

An electric construction company in Sidney, Ohio, Sollmann Electric has done work on commercial, residential and industrial properties. It has also serviced "hospitals, government and educational" facilities -- many of which rely on taxpayer funding. Neither Sollmann nor his company returned a request for comment as to how much money in government contracts they have earned. But a quick Google search turned up several instances in which the company either sought out or worked directly with government entities.

www.huffingtonpost.com...

No surprise here, considering the race based politics currently flourishing under the current administration, it really is not surprising at all. Is it right? No.