Black Nurse Sues Hospital After They Sided With Racist Patient

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Black Nurse Sues Hospital After They Agreed To A Patients Racist Request

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 her employer, the Beaumont Hospital in Dearborn, violated her federal and state civil rights by accommodating a patient’s demand to remove her after she overhead a conversation where the patient said she “didn’t want a black b*tch“ caring for her. Williams was then allegedly barred from nursing the patient and was banned from even entering the patient’s room.Williams filed a federal lawsuit claiming that she told human resources about the incident but they told her the “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 a 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  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.”

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