On Dec. 23, a jury awarded $21 million to Benjamin Danielson, MD, after determining that Seattle Children's racially discriminated against him during his tenure as medical director of one of its clinics, according to the Seattle Times. The verdict followed a civil trial that began in November.
Dr. Danielson, who is Black, served as the medical director of Odessa Brown Children's Clinic until November 2020, when he resigned, citing institutional racism. His departure spurred an independent investigation led by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and the law firm Covington & Burling. The investigation found that "racial disparities persist in leadership positions, promotions, and voluntary terminations" at Seattle Children's.
In response, the hospital released a 21-page anti-racism plan in September 2021.
Following the investigation, Dr. Danielson sued Seattle Children's in October 2023, alleging systemic racial discrimination. His allegations included failure to address biased security practices against patients of color and the use of a racist term to refer to him years earlier.
"I'm in shock," Dr. Danielson told the Seattle Times after the verdict. "I'm full of deep gratitude to the jury. There have been so many amazing people from the community, from this journey, willing to show up."
Seattle Children's disputed the allegations during the trial, with attorneys arguing that Dr. Danielson was a talented physician frustrated by decisions related to the clinic's expansion and unwilling to accept leadership feedback, according to the Seattle Times.
In a statement to Becker's, the hospital said:
"As the region's largest, independent nonprofit children's hospital, our priority is to ensure every child has access to high-quality, equitable care regardless of the ability to pay and to support the Odessa Brown Children's Clinic mission to deliver quality care with dignity. Based on the lack of evidence presented, we are extremely disappointed in this extraordinary award and are evaluating our options."