49-year old Tonya Battle, an African-American nurse, is claiming that Hurley Medical Center in Flint, Michigan hospital agreed to a man's request that no black nurses care for his newborn.
She told the local newspaper that she didn't know how to react when she learned about the request back in October 2012. She resigned shortly afterwards, and decided to sue them in Genesee Circuit Court seeking punitive damages.
Her lawsuit claims that a note was posted on a public clipboard that read, "No African American nurse to take care of baby." Battle says it was later taken down, but says that African American nurses were not assigned to the baby's care for weeks afterwards.
Her complaint says she was "shocked, offended and in disbelief that she was so egregiously discriminated against based on her race and re-assigned."
Melany Gavulic, president of the hospital, said in a statement that the father of the baby showed them a swastika tattoo, which angered the staff. She says supervisors were concerned for the staff's safety.
