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Lakisha Davis (left), attorney Azzam Elder, Rev. W.J. Rideout at press conference outside DMC Tuesday.
A mental health technician has filed a $10 million whistleblower lawsuit against the Detroit Medical Center, alleging she was fired in June after confronting the hospital about understaffing and unsafe conditions that allowed two female psychiatric patients to be raped by male patients earlier this year.
Instead of addressing the issues, as she had urged, Lakisha Davis alleges in a suit filed Tuesday in Wayne County Circuit Court that DMC covered up the incidents and fired her. The alleged rapes happened at Detroit Receiving Hospital's mental health ward, which is part of DMC's sprawling complex in Midtown Detroit.
Davis, who had worked at the hospital since 2016, "was wrongfully terminated" for raising concerns about the rapes and patient safety and DMC’s negligent practices," the suit says. "This termination was a clear and unjustified response to Plaintiff’s attempts to ensure that appropriate action was taken."
DMC issued a statement denying the accusations involving her firing, but did not specifically address the allegations of patient rapes.
"This baseless lawsuit is an inappropriate attempt by a disgruntled fired employee to personally benefit from an unfortunate situation," DMC said. "Lakisha Davis was terminated for violating HIPAA Privacy Rules designed to protect patients, violation of DMC’s policies and repeatedly lying about her role in the investigation. In fact, Ms. Davis was already on a final notice and had recent disciplinary action before her termination.
"It appears that Ms. Davis’ lies continue following her loss of employment. In her lawsuit, Ms. Davis indicates that she repeatedly raised concerns about this incident, however in the union grievance filed after her termination, she claims that she “never at no time accessed any video and at no time did (she) report any incident…”
It went on to say that it is fully cooperating with regulatory agencies and has taken appropriate actions to ensure patient safety.
The suit alleges that a female pyschiatric patient was raped by a male patient in April. "Despite previous warnings about the risks of understaffing, only two nurses and one technician were on duty at the time, which allowed the assailant to access the victim’s room without being noticed."
The suit also said the in-patient floor layout at the mental health ward at DMC's Detroit Receiving Hospital allows for patients with violent tendencies to access vulnerable and incapacitated patients.
On June 2, the suit alleges that another "preventable rape occurred" involving another woman and a different male patient because of inadequate staffing.
According to the suit, the hospital has a conference room used by the psychiatric ward and managers and staff for meetings, lunch and training. It also houses video security equipment with videos that are reviewed daily by managers and staff.
On June 3, Davis went into the room to discuss vacation with her manager, who was reviewing a video from the night before showing a male patient on top of an incapacitated female patient and sexually assaulting her, the suit said.
Davis left the conference room and reported the rape to security, and also discussed her concerns with managers, "specifically addressing the issues of the inadequate staffing and DMC's management's lack of concern for patient safety. Despite raising concernts, (Davis) received no assurances that corrective measures would be taken."
Two days later, she entered the conference room where there was a group of employees. The video was playing and one nurse said, "did you see the rape, it's disgusting."
Davis told the managers that the patient's family should be informed about the rape and the matter reported to authorities.
The suit says "fixers" were called in to address the matter.
"When the plaintiff raises concerns about patient safety, the team quickly dismissed them, steering the conversation towards the hospital's reputation," the suit says.
At some point, she felt like managers simply wanted to cover up the situation.
The suit says Davis asked a security guard to preserve the video of the rape, fearing the hospital would delete it to cover up its "negligent and reckless management."
After insisting that managment report the incident to authorities and inform the patient's family, the "fixers" sternly warned her not to the talk to the June 2 rape victim or discuss the incident with anyone.
Davis sought out an attorney and expressed concerns about the cover up, according to the suit.
After seeking counsel, the suit says, DMC managers and fixers began to falsely accuse her of accessing the video without permission and recording it on her phone.
"All the accusations made against the plaintiff, including the claims of unauthorized video access and recording, were entirely fabricated as part of a retaliatory effort to falsely and maliciously blame plaintiff for issues arising from the hospital's own negligent practices," the suit says.
She was fired on June 12.
Her attorney, Azzam Elder of Dearborn, said DMC is being deceitful by suggesting she violated HIPPA laws that protect patient confidentiality.
"My client walks into the room and managers are watching the video, and it's a room used by everybody. My client never accessed the video, she never touched the video equipment. So it's just a complete lie."
"They made up these false allegations to get her out of the way."
The suit alleges that the DMC fixers "manipulated" the June 2 rape victim and coerced her into signing a release absolving the hospital of liability.
"Within days of the assaulit, the victim, still under significant emotional distress, was pressured into accepting a monetary settlement that was grossly inadequate compared to the harm she suffered," the suit said.
The suit says that Davis, as a result of the firing and mistreatment, is suffering from emotional distress, including axiety, depression and a loss of professional confidence.
