http://www.freep.com/usatoday/article/1928253?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE% 7Cs


FLINT, Mich. -- An African-American nurse who is suing a Michigan hospital because she said it agreed to a man's request that no African-American nurses care for his newborn recalled Monday that she was stunned by her employer's actions.

About as wrong as a hospital can be. I don't see a strong legal case for allowing the father to reject black nurses, and if I'm a hospital administrator who has to make a stand, I'm picking the side that is not represented by a literal neo-Nazi.

edit: but I'm no legal expert, I could be totally wrong about what rights a person has for making dumb requests. But still, fuck that guy, is what I'm trying to say.

I love the current top comment to the article (emphasis mine):


While I don't believe in discrimination of ANY kind - the hospital isn't at fault. They didn't refuse to hire her, they didn't refuse to pay her, they responded to a clients request regarding service. Part of being an American is allowing different belief structures, religions, and yes.. crazy requests whether we personally agree or disagree). So, the dad may be a racist - in America he's allowed that right - just like people have the right to be Seventh Day Adventists, or Muslim, or gay, or anything else. I had a sign on my door that said "Mormon Missionaries NOT WANTED" .... it was my right not not be have people pushing their beliefs at me 4 times a week. They had the right to try. The nurse's livelihood was not infringed on in any way -- heck-- she had a lighter caseload not dealing with this family... don't be offended, be thankful you didn't have to be around people like this. There is a website called "Blackpeoplemeet.com" how is this not racist against non-blacks??? There aren't "white" colleges, there ARE black colleges. There aren't white ONLY dating sites, there are black. If you don't want racism, it goes BOTH WAYS!
It sounds semi-reasonable until you get to the bolded part, where it turns into your standard, "Boo hoo, Black History Month, reverse discrimination, why can't I call black people the 'N' word?!" tripe that so frequently outs a white racist.

The counterargument goes something like this:

Some people request female or male doctors all the time. Others prefer old doctors or young. In many cases, I've seen such things get accomodated.
If a patient (or their rep) is disturbed by some class of people, then they're more likely to disrupt other patients and less likely to actually get well.
It doesn't matter why they're fucked in the head. Do you feel discriminated against when your management tells you to not deal with an asshole?

I don't have a solid feel on a great answer here.

This is probably a scenario that hasn't popped up too frequently in recent years, so I suppose I can see how an administrator could be between a rock and a hard place. It'll be interesting to see how far through the courts this case goes, and what precedent (if any) it sets.