Hurley Settles with Nurse In Race Discrimination Suit

A press conference is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday in which a settlement between Hurley Medical Center and a nurse who claimed discrimination is expected to be announced.

The Detroit Free Press says the agreement came after a 14 1/2 hour meeting on Thursday.

Tonya Battle, who is African-American, accused the hospital of discrimination someone had posted a note to an assignment clipboard saying African-American nurses were not to care for the newborn of man with a swastika tattoo. A lawsuit filed in Genesee County Circuit Court alleged that the father had requested to the hospital that African-American nurses not care for his baby who was in the neomatal intensive care unit.

On Wednesday, Hurley Medical Center CEO, Melany Gavulic, denied the hospital approved the father's request. The same day, Reverend Charles Williams, a member of Al Sharpton's National Action Network, held a news conference demanding answers about the incident and accusing the hospital of discrimination.