Watch CBS News

Hospital Pays $65K To Settle Case Over Race-Based Care Request

FLINT (WWJ/AP) - A Michigan hospital has agreed to pay $65,000 to settle a lawsuit from a fourth black nurse following an accusation that it agreed to a man's request that no black nurses care for his newborn.

Attorney Tom Pabst on Tuesday confirmed to The Flint Journal that his client, Carlotta Armstrong, finalized the settlement with Hurley Medical Center in Flint. Pabst says the settlement points to an ongoing problem of racial discrimination at the hospital.

The hospital, however, denies any wrongdoing as part of the settlement. Spokeswoman Ilene Cantor says the hospital had been prepared for trial and "is committed to taking care of all patients without regard to race and continues its commitment to non-discrimination."

Another suit including three nurses was settled in 2013 for nearly $200,000.

The incident that sparked the lawsuits occurred in the medical center's neonatal intensive care unit on Oct. 31, 2012. According to the lawsuit, Tonya Battle was working at an infant's beside when the child's father asked to speak to her supervisor.

After speaking to the man, Battle said her supervisor told her that the father, a white man with "a swastika of some kind," didn't want African-Americans to care for his child.

According to the eight-page complaint against the medical center, the infant was assigned to a different nurse and Battle was given new duties. Battle said she returned to work the next day to find a note posted on an assignment clipboard that read "No African-American nurse to take care of baby."

The lawsuit says Battle was "shocked, offended and in disbelief that she was so egregiously discriminated against based on her race and re-assigned."

Battle said the note was later removed after the hospital's lawyer objected to the decision, but she claims black nurses weren't assigned to care for the baby for about a month strictly "because of their race."

The other two nurses who received settlements were not named as plaintiffs in the original lawsuit.

TM and © Copyright 2014 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.