FLINT, Mich. -- An African-American nurse who is
suing a Michigan 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 in Flint.
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 (Mich.) 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."
The charge nurse passed the request to her
supervisor, and Battle was reassigned, according to the complaint.
Even after hospital officials removed the sign that
had been placed for a short time on the assignment chart, Battle and other
black nurses were not assigned to care for the baby for about a month
"because of their race," according to the lawsuit. Battle is seeking
punitive damages for emotional stress, mental anguish, humiliation and damage
to her reputation. Read more…
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