A civil trial has commenced to determine whether Seattle Children's racially discriminated against the former medical director of one of its clinics, The Seattle Times reported Nov. 26.
Seven things to know:
1. The former medical director, Benjamin Danielson, MD, resigned in 2020 after leading Odessa Brown Children's Clinic for more than 20 years.
2. Dr. Danielson filed a racial discrimination lawsuit in October 2023, alleging the hospital 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," the Times previously reported.
He also cited needing to be "twice as good" as white colleagues and alleged the hospital disproportionately used security against Black patients.
3. Dr. Danielson alleged hospital leaders retaliated against him after he and others shared concerns that funds intended to expand clinic services and build a second location were not being spent on the clinic, the Times wrote.
4. In the trial brief, Seattle Children's attorneys argued Dr. Danielson resigned because he did not have "complete autonomy" over clinic funds.
5. Seattle Children's has denied retaliation or a hostile work environment, sharing the following statement with Becker's:
"Seattle Children’s cannot allow anything to eclipse the important work required of us to deliver on our mission and serve patients and families," a hospital spokesperson said. "We recognize Dr. Danielson’s contributions to OBCC prior to his voluntary departure four years ago and are disappointed he has chosen to pursue the matter in court and will vigorously dispute the allegations being made during trial proceedings."
6. After Dr. Danielson's resignation, Seattle Children's hired a law firm to conduct an independent investigation, which found that while workforce racial and ethnic diversity had improved, "racial disparities persist in leadership positions, promotions and voluntary terminations," according to the report.
7. Dr. Danielson is seeking noneconomic damages "for the harms he endured as a result of the hostile work environment and retaliation (including) emotional distress, humiliation, personal indignity, anxiety, and disillusionment, both past and future for each type of harm," according to the trial brief. He is not seeking economic damages in the form of back pay or front pay.