Relias Media - Continuing Medical Education Publishing

The trusted source for

healthcare information and

CONTINUING EDUCATION.

  • Sign In
  • Sign Out
  • MyAHC
    • Home
      • Home
      • Newsletters
      • Blogs
      • Archives
      • CME/CE Map
      • Shop
    • Emergency
      • All Products
      • Publications
      • Study Guides
      • Webinars
      • Group Sales
    • Hospital
      • All Products
      • Publications
      • Study Guides
      • Webinars
      • Group Sales
    • Clinical
      • All Products
      • Publications
      • Study Guides
      • Webinars
      • Group Sales
    • All Access
      • Subscribe Now
      • My Subscription
    • My Account
      • My Subscriptions
      • My Content
      • My Orders
      • My CME/CE
      • My Transcript
    Home » Nursing home bars black nurses, loses lawsuit

    Nursing home bars black nurses, loses lawsuit

    September 1, 2015
    No Comments
    Reprints
    Facebook Twitter Linkedin Share Share

    Related Articles

    Memphis area loses provider

    Nursing shortage brings rule switch: Contract nurses now meet requirement

    Nursing Home's Failure to Administer Laxative to Resident Leads to Death; $5.3M Verdict

    Related Products

    Nursing home bars black nurses, loses lawsuit

    Don't leave home without it: Subacute a reality for nursing home residents | Single Article

    Nurses' Charting May Deter Patient from Filing Lawsuit | Single Article

    When considering whether to accommodate a patient’s request regarding caregivers of a particular race, gender, or religion, the case that comes closest to setting a precedent for healthcare providers is Chaney v. Plainfield Healthcare Center, which involves a Plainfield, IN-based nursing home that forbade black nurses from treating certain patients.

    In a 2010 decision, the Indiana Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals determined that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act bars nursing homes from acceding to their residents’ racially discriminatory requests with respect to certified nursing assistants. (See the case at http://tinyurl.com/pnpfzu9.) Plainfield Healthcare Center is a nursing home that housed a resident who did not want assistance from black certified nursing assistants (CNAs). Plainfield complied with this racial preference by noting in each day’s duty sheets that “no black” assistants should enter this resident’s room or provide her with care. Brenda Chaney, a black CNA, filed a lawsuit claiming the nursing home created a hostile work environment.

    Chaney reluctantly refrained from assisting the patient, even when she was in the best position to respond. Once, according to the lawsuit, Chaney found the woman on the ground, too weak to stand. Despite wanting badly to help, Chaney had to search the building for a white CNA. Plainfield housed at least two other residents with a similar distaste for black CNAs.

    The district court ruled in favor of the nursing home and accepted its argument that failure to comply with her request might have violated the state’s patients’ right laws. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Indiana disagreed and concluded that the nursing home “told Chaney that it was excluding her from work areas and residents solely on account of her race, thereby creating a racially-charged workplace that poisoned the work environment.”

    By accommodating the race-based request, the employer encouraged racial abuse toward the black CNA, the court determined.

    “The hostility that Chaney described came from daily reminders that Plainfield was employing her on materially different terms than her white co-workers. Fueling this pattern was the racial preference policy, both a source of humiliation for Chaney and fodder for her co-workers, who invoked it regularly,” the court wrote. “It was, in short, a racially hostile environment.”

    Plainfield later settled the case for $150,000, according to court records.

    Post a comment to this article

    Report Abusive Comment

    www.reliasmedia.com

    Healthcare Risk Management

    View PDF
    Healthcare Risk Management 2015-09-01
    September 1, 2015

    Table Of Contents

    Providers must tread carefully if patient objects to caregiver

    Healthcare Risk Management’ s Ebola coverage wins first place

    Nursing home bars black nurses, loses lawsuit

    New and increased liabilities emerging from Affordable Care Act

    Hospital investigating after ESPN publishes football player’s medical record

    Greater New York Hospital Association says no more reality television access

    Infant injured by an ‘old school’ trick that most hospitals and healthcare systems ban

    Sleep apnea can pose malpractice risk in surgery

    Work hour restrictions not improving safety

    UCLA Health targeted in cyber attack

    Research confirms ‘weekend effect’ on patient safety

    Physician not following through on proposed plan costs hospital $4.8 million

    Failure to transfer patient to a qualified facility results in $23 million jury verdict

    Clarification

    Begin Test

    Buy this Issue/Course

    Shop Now: Search Products

    • Subscription Publications
    • Books & Study Guides
    • Webinars
    • Group & Site
      Licenses
    • State CME/CE
      Requirements

    Webinars And Events

    View All Events
    • Home
      • Home
      • Newsletters
      • Blogs
      • Archives
      • CME/CE Map
      • Shop
    • Emergency
      • All Products
      • Publications
      • Study Guides
      • Webinars
      • Group Sales
    • Hospital
      • All Products
      • Publications
      • Study Guides
      • Webinars
      • Group Sales
    • Clinical
      • All Products
      • Publications
      • Study Guides
      • Webinars
      • Group Sales
    • All Access
      • Subscribe Now
      • My Subscription
    • My Account
      • My Subscriptions
      • My Content
      • My Orders
      • My CME/CE
      • My Transcript
    • Help
    • Search
    • About Us
    • Sign In
    • Register
    Relias Media - Continuing Medical Education Publishing

    The trusted source for

    healthcare information and

    CONTINUING EDUCATION.

    Customer Service

    customerservice@reliasmedia.com

    U.S. and Canada: 1-800-688-2421

    International +1-404-262-5476

    Accounts Receivable

    1-800-370-9210
    ReliasMedia_AR@reliasmedia.com

    Mailing Address

    • 1010 Sync St., Suite 100
      Morrisville, NC 27560-5468
      USA

    © 2020 Relias. All rights reserved.

    Do Not Sell My Personal Information  Privacy Policy  Terms of Use  Contact Us  Reprints  Group Sales

    For DSR inquiries or complaints, please reach out to Wes Vaux, Data Privacy Officer, DPO@relias.com

    Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing