Curiosity
No Black Nurses Lawsuit, Man Demands White Only Nurses – UPDATE
No Black Nurses Lawsuit, Man Demands Nurse Change For Enfant
Flint, Michigan – 49-year-old neonatal nurse Tonya Battle is suing her employer the Hurley Medical Center over a charge of racism.
At issue is a request from a patient who had just delivered a baby and demanded “no black nurses” attend to the infant’s care.
Battle states in her lawsuit, filed last month in Genesee Circuit Court, that her employer of 25 years honored the request.
Battle had been caring for the baby when it’s father turned up asking to speak with her supervisor and subsequently pulled up his shirt sleeve revealing what she believed was a Nazi swastika tattoo.
“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.”
The baby’s father, who has not been identified, spoke with the charge nurse regarding his demand for “no black nurses” treat his child.
“[She] was shocked, offended and in disbelief that she was so egregiously discriminated against based on her race and re-assigned,” the court documents state.
Battle says that after the charge nurse discussed the man’s request with her supervisor she was reassigned to other infants in the ward. For a brief time, the hospital even had a “no black nurses” sign on the infant’s chart.
“African American nurses [like Battle] were not assigned to the baby for approximately the next month because of their race,’ the lawsuit states.
On The Web:
‘No black nurses’ lawsuit filed against Mich. hospital
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20130218/NEWS03/130218035/-No-black-nurses-lawsuit-filed-against-Mich-hospital-?nclick_check=1