A West Michigan health care facility is accused of catering to the racist demands of its patients. Six employees of Providence Christian Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center say that the health care facility honored the requests of patients who wanted “white-only” caregivers.
The registered nurse assistants, who are all black, filed a lawsuit against the Zeeland based medical center, accusing the facility of race discrimination, race harassment and retaliation. They're seeking compensation for mental anguish, emotional distress and damage to their professional reputation.
Representing the six women in the lawsuit is attorney Julie Gafkay. She says in this case, the health care facility saw the patients’ rights as paramount to the rights of the staff.
“Patients and residents of health care facilities make unrealistic demands all the time,” Gafkay said. “That doesn’t mean you grand those demands. And if the demand is “I don’t want an African-American caring for me, that is an unrealistic demand and it should not granted, it should not be accommodated, and it needs to be addressed head on.”
Providence Life Services spokeswoman Sheila King declined to comment on the allegations due to the litigation but said Providence doesn't change staff assignments based on race.
A similar lawsuit came about in October 2017, when a black nurse filed a lawsuit against Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Spectrum Health claiming the health system granted a patient's request for no black caregivers.