A former medical director of one of Seattle Children's clinics is suing the hospital alleging racial discrimination, The Seattle Times reported Oct. 18.
Ben Danielson, MD, who resigned as medical director of Odessa Brown Children's Clinic in November 2020, citing racism, filed the lawsuit Oct. 13 in King County Superior Court.
Seattle Children's allowed "the use of racial slurs, failing to remedy known incidents of systemic racism, fostering an environment of conformity to the status quo of racial inequity, and subjecting its Black and brown employees to a double standard of conduct," his lawsuit alleges, according to The Seattle Times.
"Over time, he internalized the indignities of systemic inequities at SCH as he watched the hospital treat his patients with the same disregard he experienced as the target of racially hostile language," the lawsuit states.
In 2020, Dr. Danielson said he resigned after Seattle Children's leaders failed to address issues such as calling security disproportionately against patients of color and a lack of translation services. He also alleged a hospital administrator used a racist term to refer to him years earlier.
"I have privilege enough that I should be somebody who says, 'This is not okay,'" Dr. Danielson told Crosscut in December 2020. "I'm privileged enough to know that this children's hospital is not a unique organization, that these are all the same kinds of ills that many institutions have baked into their systems. And I understand that whatever I whine about personally and experiences I've had around leaders using hate speech and racial language relating to me, the experiences of low-income people of color are still miles worse than anything I experienced."
Seattle Children's released the following statement to Becker's regarding Dr. Danielson's new lawsuit.
"We are disappointed that Dr. Ben Danielson is pursuing legal action after voluntarily leaving three years ago and vigorously dispute the allegations being made," a spokesperson said. "As Seattle Children's workforce members and executive leaders make meaningful progress on the organization's efforts to dismantle systemic racism, this lawsuit will not eclipse or slow down the important work underway. Seattle Children's commitment to caring for all our region's children is unwavering and we will not be distracted from our top priority of providing compassionate, equitable and critical care to the patients and families we serve."
Dr. Danielson resigned after more than 20 years leading Odessa Brown.
In January 2021, Seattle Children's hired former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Covington & Burling, a Washington, D.C.-based law firm, to investigate claims of systemic racism at the hospital system. The investigation found that "racial disparities persist in leadership positions, promotions and voluntary terminations." In September 2021, the hospital released a 21-page anti-racism plan.