Nurse Sues, Says Hospital Allowed Racist Dad's Demand

A black nurse in Michigan has sued her employer, charging that the hospital assented to a white father's demand that no African-Americans handle his baby, reports CNN. Tonya Battle says she learned of the demand when the father himself approached her as she held the baby, showed her a tattoo that resembled a swastika, and asked to speak to her supervisor. He then relayed that he wanted no black people near his child, says the lawsuit.

When Battle arrived at work the next day, she saw a note on the nursing clipboard that read, "No African-American nurse to take care of this baby," reports the Daily Mail. A hospital lawyer eventually got the note removed, but the father's request was honored for about a month, says the suit. (The baby was in the hospital's neonatal ICU.)