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The two Detroit hospitals mentioned in the suit reportedly suffered from operating rooms and floors contaminated by raw sewage, feces, corroded blood, and worse.
A Black gay Michigan man has filed suit against his former employer, claiming he was subjected to racist and homophobic taunts and later fired for reporting disturbing unsanitary conditions at two Detroit hospitals.
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Jerrell Atkins said he was fired as an operations manager with Crothall Healthcare and Compass Group after he reported the life-threatening, unsanitary conditions. His former employers, who were subcontractors of Tenet Healthcare, provided cleaning services to the Detroit Medical Center and Children’s Hospital of Michigan.
“This lawsuit is in direct response to Defendants’ concerted effort to intentionally retaliate and discriminate against Whistleblowers, like Plaintiff, who only wished to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of the public,” Muneeb M. Ahmad, an attorney with Just Right Law, which filed the lawsuit, said in a statement.
Atkins claims that “unsterile and dirty machinery and equipment” used to “clean up feces and raw sewage” was then used elsewhere in the facilities, including “surgical operating rooms” and “exposing patients to life-threatening infections and disease.”
He also claims that “old and corroded blood” was left in surgical rooms used for delivering babies and performing c-sections, and that blood and urine were left uncleaned from floors for “extended periods of time” elsewhere in the hospitals.
For his efforts at safeguarding patients, Atkins alleges he was subjected to a retaliatory campaign of racist and homophobic intimidation before he was fired.
The suit claims management and others ridiculed him for his sexual orientation and regularly used “sexually discriminatory and derogatory remarks” and slurs referring to homosexuals as “f*gs,” “f*gg*ts,” and “h*m*s.”
He also claims he was subjected to racist slurs such as the n word and “monkeys.”
Rather than correcting the deficiencies, Atkins alleges his employers falsified records, further endangering patients.
In addition to Compass and Crothall, the suit also specifically sues Healthcare General Manager Kimberly Mullins, Assistant Director Teresa Thomson, and Regional Operations Director Travis Leap.
Ahmad said he hopes not just to hold Compass and Crothall accountable, but also give hope to other potential whistleblowers.
“This lawsuit is a beacon of hope to other employees who may be afraid to speak up and is meant to give a voice against this retaliatory and discriminatory behavior,” Ahmad said.
