Nurse's suit alleging hospital complied with racist request settled
Robin Erb, Detroit Free PressDETROIT--After settling one lawsuit, a Flint hospital accused of honoring a swastika-tattooed man's request that black nurses not care for his newborn said Friday that the "situation ... was triggered by conduct which is not consistent with Hurley's policies."
Hurley Medical Center now faces a second lawsuit over the incident. It settled the first suit--with veteran neonatal nurse Tonya Battle, 49 -- Thursday after hours of negotiations between lawyers and hospital officials. Battle's lawsuit put the national spotlight on the 105-year-old teaching hospital.
The second lawsuit is from Carlotta Armstrong, who, according to her attorney, also is a veteran nurse.
"I'm asking for justice. I want to present this to a jury," attorney Tom Pabst said. "I want to see what the community thinks about it. I don't want to settle this."
Armstrong could not be reached for comment.
Battle's lawsuit accused hospital staff of posting a note on an assignment clipboard saying that black nurses could not care for a certain newborn. The baby's father had made the request after he found Battle caring for the baby, Battle said.
The note later was removed, but black nurses were not assigned to care for the infant for about a month, according to the complaint filed in Genesee County Circuit Court in January.
On Friday evening, with Battle and two other nurses at her side, the hospital's CEO, Melany Gavulic, read from a prepared statement that said, in part, "We regret that our policies were not well enough understood and followed, causing the perception that Hurley condoned this conduct.
"Hurley Medical Center is fundamentally opposed to any form of racial discrimination," Gavulic read.
She indicated that the incident may lead to staff training, though the statement offered no specifics and did not address the allegations in the second suit.
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