Whistleblower accuses DMC of covering up the rape of a patient and sues for wrongful termination

DETROIT (FOX 2) – A woman accused the Detroit Medical Center (DMC) of covering up at least two cases in which a patient was raped by another patient in the psychiatric ward and was subsequently fired.

Lakisha Davis of Detroit worked as a psychiatric technician at DMC Detroit Receiving Hospital in 2016. However, she says she was wrongfully fired in June of this year because she advocated for patient protection and tried to report DMC management's negligence to authorities after two alleged rapes occurred in the hospital's crisis center.

Represented by attorney Azzam Elder, Davis has filed a $10 million lawsuit against Detroit Receiving Hospital and DMC, alleging wrongful termination, retaliation and defamation.

According to the lawsuit, a psychiatric patient was raped in April 2024 due to grossly inadequate staffing and poor supervision – and no significant changes were made to prevent further incidents. On June 2, 2024, another similar assault occurred.

During a press conference and demonstration outside Detroit Receiving Hospital on Tuesday, Davis said she was not working during the two incidents but intervened anyway when she saw video of the second attack.

“I was shocked. Is this really happening to this patient? Are they really going to do something about it? And I see that they have done nothing but fire me and make false accusations against me. They claim that I recorded the video and showed it around the hospital, which is not true,” the whistleblower said. “Others saw it, but I reported it to security.”

Davis worked in the hospital's crisis center, where typically only two nurses and a technician cared for up to 22 patients at a time, she said.

“It's an unsafe environment, there's a lack of staff,” Davis added. “It's just unsafe.”

After the June 2 incident, DMC called in a team of crisis managers to address ongoing problems, the lawsuit says. Despite her efforts to get hospital security to preserve the video and turn it over to law enforcement, Davis was instructed not to speak to anyone about the alleged sexual assault, including the patient.

The lawsuit also accuses the DMC of firing Davis and several other employees who knew about the assaults – and then paying the victim of the June 2 incident to keep quiet.

“Within days of the assault, the victim, still suffering significant emotional distress, was pressured into accepting financial compensation that was grossly inadequate compared to the harm she suffered,” the lawsuit states. The patient was also forced to “sign a settlement agreement that released DMC and its corporate owner, Tenet Health, from any liability.”

Rev. WJ Rideout, who joined the whistleblower and her attorney during the press conference, called on Attorney General Dana Nessel and U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Dawn Ison to investigate and take appropriate action against the DMC.

From left to right: Lakisha Davis, Attorney Azzam Elder and Rev. WJ Rideout.

“Profits come before people – that’s what we’re about,” Rideout said.

Detroit police said they were aware of both cases at Detroit Receiving Hospital.

“The April case has been investigated and submitted to the Wayne County District Attorney's Office and is awaiting review,” the DPD said. “The June 2 case is still open and under active investigation. There are no arrests at this time.”

However, in a statement to FOX 2 Detroit, the DMC denied Davis' allegations, calling the lawsuit “baseless” and saying Davis was a “disgruntled terminated employee” who was trying to “take personal advantage of an unfortunate situation.”

“Lakisha Davis was fired for violating HIPAA privacy protections designed to protect patients, violating DMC policies, and repeatedly lying about her role in the investigation. In fact, Ms. Davis had already received a final warning and been disciplined prior to her termination,” the DMC said. “It appears that Ms. Davis continues to lie even after losing her job. In her lawsuit, Ms. Davis states that she repeatedly raised concerns about this incident, yet in the union complaint she filed after her termination, she claims that she 'did not access any video at any time and did not report any incident at any time.'”

“The DMC is cooperating fully with regulators and has taken appropriate measures to ensure patient safety.”

The lawsuit seeks to compensate Davis for the emotional distress, damaged reputation and financial losses she suffered as a result of the alleged revenge firing, according to Davis' attorney Elder. It also seeks to hold DMC leadership accountable.

“This woman deserves to have her reputation restored,” Elder said. “Hopefully we will get justice. It's just a matter of time.”

DMC whistleblower Lakisha Davis with attorney Azzam Elder, Rev. WJ Rideout and others protest outside DMC Detroit Receiving Hospital on Tuesday, September 3, 2024.