Problem: LEGAL/ETHICAL CHALLENGE

Swastikas and Neonatal Care

This case involved an incident that occurred at Hurley Medical Center in Michigan. It resulted in a lawsuit. Tonya Battle, a veteran black nurse in Hurley's neonatal intensive care unit, was taking care of a baby when a man walked into the unit. The man, who had a swastika tattoo, reached for the baby and was stopped by Tonya. She asked to see the wristband that identified him as the baby's parent. This was apparently hospital policy. "He abruptly told her he wanted to see her supervisor, who then advised Battle she should no longer care for the child."101

The man requested that no African-American nurses should take care of his child. A note was subsequently put on the assignment clipboard saying, "No African American nurse to take care of baby." Tonya was "shocked, offended, and in disbelief that she was so egregiously discriminated against based on her race and re-assigned, according to the lawsuit, which asks for punitive damages for emotional stress, mental anguish, humiliation and damages to her reputation.102 Battle could not understand why the hospital would accommodate the man's request. Although the note was later removed, black nurses were not allowed to care for the child for about a month. It is important to note that the "American Medical Association's ethics code bars doctors from refusing to treat people based on race, gender, and other criteria, but there are no specific policies for handling race-based requests from patients." Further, a survey of "emergency physicians found patients often make such requests, and they are routinely accommodated. A third of doctors who responded said they felt patients perceive better care from providers of shared demographics, with racial matches considered more important than gender or religion."103

Your Views What would you have done if you were a medical administrator at the time the request was made?

1. I would not have honored the man's request. I would have explained why Tonya Battle and other African American nurses are best suited to take care of his child.

2. I would have done exactly what the hospital did. The man has a right to have his child taken care of by someone with a race or gender of his choosing. What would you do about the lawsuit?

1. Fight it. It's ridiculous that someone would feel emotional stress and humiliation from simply being reassigned.

2. Settle the lawsuit and create a policy that prohibits honoring future requests like this.

3. Settle the lawsuit but not create a policy prohibiting accommodating such requests. Rather, hold a hospital wide meeting explaining the rationale for why the hospital needs to accommodate such requests.