Dysart v. Palms of Pasadena Hosp., LP – March 2015 (Summary)

DISCRIMINATION

Dysart v. Palms of Pasadena Hosp., LP, No. 8:13-cv-2499-T-35EAJ (M.D. Fla. Mar. 2, 2015)

The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida granted a nurse’s motion for partial summary judgment in her discrimination lawsuit against a hospital. The nurse sued the hospital after she was prohibited from treating a particular patient because the patient did not want to receive care from someone with dark skin.

The patient, an elderly Hispanic woman, was admitted to the hospital after being mugged by an African-American male. According to hospital records, the patient displayed a strong aversion to people with dark skin – she would cry, shake, and even lose bladder control at times. The hospital eventually posted a sign on the patient’s door instructing all staff members to report to the nurse’s station before entering the room. The purpose of the sign was to allow the charge nurse to keep dark-skinned staff members from treating the patient.

The nurse-plaintiff, an African-American woman, overlooked this sign and entered the patient’s room. Although the patient did not object to her presence, two other members of the hospital staff followed the nurse into the room and asked her to leave. When the nurse learned that the hospital was not allowing dark-skinned staff members to care for this patient, she became upset and immediately left the unit. The hospital offered her paid vacation as compensation for the incident, but the nurse instead filed a discrimination lawsuit.

In its analysis of the case, the court acknowledged that this was a difficult situation. However, the court was not persuaded by the hospital’s attempts to defend its behavior. The court emphasized that the law expressly prohibits unwritten discrimination policies, and that there is no such thing as a legitimate reason for this sort of intentional race discrimination.

The court concluded that the lawsuit would need to go to a jury trial to determine whether the nurse had provided enough evidence to receive compensation for her harm. In addition, it granted the nurse’s request to exclude evidence of the patient’s age and ethnicity from the jury. The court stated that the patient’s age was no more relevant than her race for determining whether the hospital discriminated against the nurse.

The judge granted the nurse’s request to present evidence to the jury of how much money the hospital made from treating the patient. The nurse will also be allowed to show that the hospital had certified compliance with Title VII. In its defense, the hospital will be allowed to present evidence to the jury of its justification for excluding the nurse from the patient’s care.