A veteran nurse is suing the Hurley Medical Center in Flint, Mich., over what she says was a request by a swastika-tattooed man that no African-American nurses care for his child—a request the hospital allowed.

The nurse, who is African-American, has accused Hurley of acquiescing to the man, whose newborn was in the NICU last fall:

The lawsuit claims the nurse's supervisor, the charge nurse, contacted a nurse manager who re-assigned the baby, later met with another supervisor to OK the father's request and even had a staff meeting to let them know about the decision.

The suit claims there was a note posted on an assignment clipboard before a hospital attorney told the nurse manager they could not continue doing what had been done. [...]

The lawsuit claims, "The father told the Charge Nurse that he did not want any African Americans taking care of his baby. While telling the Charge Nurse, he pulled up his sleeve and showed some type of tattoo, which was believed to be a swastika of some kind."

A hospital spokeswoman acknowledged that the request was made, but that "[t]he father was informed that his request could not be granted[.]"

ABC12 was able to obtain a copy of the note that the nurse, who remains anonymous, says was attached to the child's assignment clipboard for about four hours. "That did not happen," the hospital's lawyer said.

[ABC12]