Former Huntington Memorial Hospital Nurses Claim Unfair Treatment Based on Race

Martha Beltran and Veronica Loving file discrimination and retaliation lawsuit against their former employer Huntington Memorial Hospital.

By Alex Cordero

Former employees for Huntington Memorial Hospital (HMH) in Pasadena, Martha Beltran and Veronica Loving, have filed a lawsuit against the hospital alleging to have experienced discrimination and retaliation. They both claim to be the targets of racism from two new supervisors in the Labor and Delivery Department. During a press conference last week in Los Angeles, both Martha Beltran and Veronica Loving expressed their concern about their allegations and described their long term careers as nurses at Huntington Hospital.

“Huntington represented to me the conquer of the American dream,” Beltran said at the beginning of her statement. She started working as a housekeeper at HMH and throughout her career, of over three decades, with the hospital ascended to have the title of charge nurse in her department when she was recently terminated. “I do not understand why in two months they were able to destroy my work of 34 years,” Beltran read from her statement.

Loving, a registered nurse for 29 years, said that her mother, who was sitting by her side, was an inspiration as to why she decided to become a nurse. Her mother is a nurse at HMH and has been a nurse for over 30 years. “My children were born at Huntington, my grandchildren were born at Huntington and Huntington Memorial Hospital has been an extension of our family and community” said Loving. She was dismissed after nearly a decade of employment at HMH. “I stand here today for my colleagues and our patients at Huntington who remain hoping that my speaking up will allow justice and love to prevail” Loving stated at the conference.

As a result, a group of nurses have submitted a written statement expressing their outrage at the dismissal of their peers and the continuous discrimination and segregation they have felt while working at the hospital to their administrators. However, after experiencing practices that they feel were retributive against them from their current supervisors for submitting such a statement, some nurses have chosen to become silent supporters of their former colleagues out of fear of retaliation as most of them are still employees of HMH.

We have contacted HMH to inquire if they would like to comment on the allegations of discrimination and retaliation against some of the hospital staff. The following statement is what HMH provided:

“Huntington Hospital maintains a strict non-discrimination policy in our hiring and other human resources practices. In accordance with this policy, we treat any discrimination claim seriously. Such claims are fully investigated in compliance with all applicable legal and regulatory requirements. As a matter of policy, we do not comment publicly on confidential personnel matters.”

More from News