ROME — New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman today announced a settlement in the investigation of a Rome nursing home over accusations of race discrimination against African-American employees.
Betsy Ross Nursing and Rehabilitation Center is a private, for-profit, 120-bed nursing home facility that provides long-term care, rehabilitative services, and other treatment to senior citizens, according to Schneiderman’s office.
Schneiderman opened an investigation following “multiple” complaints about discrimination in the assignments of African-American nurses at the nursing home, his office said in a news release.
Specifically, the complaints alleged that the nursing home accommodated the “racially discriminatory preferences” of a patient who did not want to be seen or treated by African-American nurses.
In response, the nursing home reassigned all African-American nurses to another unit of the facility, barring African-American employees from working in the unit, and posting an order that read “No Colored Nurses” in the unit, according to Scheiderman’s office.
“The fact that nearly 50 years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, some New Yorkers are still subject to racial discrimination at work — or anywhere — is shocking and unacceptable,” Schneiderman said in the news release. “Sadly, this case demonstrates that racism is still alive, and that we must be aggressive and unwavering in rooting out racial discrimination by employers.”
Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the New York State Human Rights Law, it is unlawful to discriminate against employees based on race, Schneiderman’s office said.
Betsy Ross has agreed to implement new policies and reforms to protect the rights of employees and to ensure a nondiscriminatory environment for all employees going forward, the office added.
Under the terms of the settlement, Betsy Ross will implement a “comprehensive” anti-discrimination policy, retain a third-party diversity consultant who will conduct training for all of its employees, post public notices around its facilities regarding the nursing home’s commitment to nondiscrimination, develop new protocols for filing complaints concerning discrimination, and provide reports to the attorney general’s office for three years, according to Schneiderman’s office.
Betsy Ross has also agreed not to retaliate against any current or former employees who participated in the attorney general’s investigation, Schneiderman’s office added.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com