Tornado Alley (PROG)

[arizona1]

Dad in Michigan requested no black nurses care for baby

Tonya Battle, a longtime nurse at Hurley Medical Center in Flint, Michigan; was caring for a newborn baby in the neonatal ICU when out of nowhere, the baby's dad asked that she not be allowed to care for the child anymore? Why? Because Battle is black. This guy requested that no black nurses be allowed near the baby--a request granted by hospital officials. Now Battle is suing for discrimination.

The man approached Battle, while she was caring for his child in the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit, asking to speak to her supervisor, according to the complaint filed in January by Battle's attorney.

She pointed the charge nurse in his direction.

The man, who is not named in the filing, allegedly showed her a tattoo that may have been "a swastika of some kind" and told her that he didn't want African-Americans involved in his baby's care.

The request, according to the lawsuit, made its way through management ranks, and was granted. Battle's manager called her at home to tell her she would be reassigned -- and why, the suit says.

The lawsuit, viewable here (hat tip to WNEM-TV in Bay City) says that the incident occurred on Halloween. Almost fitting, since the fact this sort of thing can occur in 2013 is a horror story. The next day, the hospital not only agreed to the dad's request that no black nurses be allowed around the baby--and even put a note on the clipboard saying "No African-American nurse to take care of baby." Even worse, when the hospital's lawyer told the nurse manager that this was illegal, no black nurses were assigned to care for the baby for over a month.

I'm shaking with anger so much that I can hardly type. This is one of the most outrageous instances of discrimination I've seen in a long time. When I calm down, I'm dropping the hospital a line here.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/02/17/1187835/-Dad-in-Michigan-requested-no-black-nurses-care-for-baby