A nurse accused St. Louis-based BJC HealthCare of delaying her start date and withdrawing a job offer because she is deaf, according to court documents filed in late October.
The plaintiff, Sunshine Miles, says she applied for multiple nursing positions at BJC HealthCare and its Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. In April 2022, the hospital offered her an interview for a dialysis nurse position, but after she explained she is deaf and would need a relay service to communicate over the phone, the offer was retracted.
The next month, a different unit in the hospital interviewed her for a medical oncology nurse position with a sign language interpreter present. The hospital offered Ms. Miles the job with a June 6 start date. She asked the hospital to provide a sign language interpreter as an accommodation, and her start date was repeatedly postponed "as they asked her questions about how she could do the job as a deaf individual," the suit alleges.
In June, the job offer was withdrawn, and the system has allegedly refused to consider Ms. Miles for other open positions. She is suing for emotional damages and lost wages and benefits.
A BJC HealthCare spokesperson told Becker's the system does not comment on ongoing lawsuits.