A black nurse is suing the hospital she worked at for allegedly honoring the request of a patient who didn’t want her caring for her because she’s African-American.
According to ABC News, Teoka Williams has been a nurse at Beaumont Health for ten years. On Oct. 2, 2017, she was assigned two patients and said when she was within earshot, one patient said she did not want “a “black b–ch” tending to her.
Williams went to her supervisor under the assumption the request wouldn’t be honored. However, Williams’ claims she was told not to go back to the room with the patient who made the racial remark and she was replaced by a white nurse.
Julie Gafkay, Williams’ lawyer, said his client was “embarrassed” and shouldn’t have been denied the chance to do her job because she’s black. “She was very upset because she is a good nurse. There’s no reason she should be excluded from caring for a patient. She was segregated based solely on her race.”
Gafkay said Williams took her complaint to Human Resources, where she was told patient’s requests are honored regularly and if something like that happens again, she’d be removed from the assignment altogether
“While we cannot comment on the specifics of this case because it is pending litigation, we can say that Beaumont’s 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,” Beaumont Health said in a statement.
Williams’ said she’s taking the legal route because she doesn’t want what happened to her to happen to another black nurse.
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