Black nurse sues Michigan hospital for honoring patient’s racist request

A Black nurse is suing her employer for honoring a racist request at a Michigan hospital.

Aug 20, 2018

A Black nurse is suing her employer for honoring a racist request at a Michigan hospital after a patient asked to be seen by someone of another race.

Teoka Williams claims that Beaumont Hospital in Dearborn violated her federal and state civil rights by accommodating a patient’s demand to remove the Black woman after she overhead a conversation where the patient said she “didn’t want a “Black b—-“ caring for her, Fox 2 Detroit reported. Williams said she was then subsequently barred from servicing the patient and was forbade from even entering the patient’s room.

In the federal lawsuit Williams filed on Monday, the registered nurse claims that she told human resources about the incident but said they told her in reply “patient requests are honored all the time and the next time it happens she would simply be taken off the assignment altogether.”

Beaumont Hospital released the following statement saying that its “highest priority is providing a safe environment that is free from discrimination for both our patients and staff, and delivering care with compassion, dignity and respect.”

Williams’ attorney Julie Gafkay said the lawsuit “is about being denied the opportunity to do your job duties based on your race, and being segregated from your job duties based on your race.”

Gafkay said the health system “accommodated racism and allowed a patient to discriminate against a very good and valuable employee.”

Williams is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, as well as court costs and attorney fees.

This is another case of working while Black where Black folks can’t seem to catch a break.

A ‘Too Ghetto Name’

And to make matters worse, a Missouri Black woman claims she can’t even get a job with Mantality Health after she received a letter from them denying her a job simply because her name was considered, well, “too ghetto.”

Hermeisha Robinson says she applied for a customer service job at Mantality Health in St Louis, when she received a shockingly blunt email from nurse practitioner Jordan Kimler.

“Thank you for your interest in careers at Mantality Health,” the correspondence began before taking a sharp turn for the worst. “Unfortunately we do not consider candidates that have suggestive “ghetto” names. We wish you the best in your career search.”

Monday the 27-year-old shared the rejection letter on her Facebook, stating her feelings were “very hurt,” and “I would like for everyone to share this post because discrimination has to stop.”

The company has since blamed a website glitch on the letter and says it does not discriminate.