DETROIT – A $10 million lawsuit has been filed against Detroit Receiving Hospital and DMC on behalf of former employee Lakisha Davis, who alleges the hospital tried to cover up an unsafe environment for psychiatric patients who had been raped while in their care.
Davis worked as a mental health technician for most of the eight years she was employed by DMC.
In April of 2024, she says another patient raped a psychiatric patient receiving in-patient care.
“I work in the Crisis Center,” said Davis, who said they routinely had up to 22 patients and were short-staffed—it was like two nurses and one tech taking care of 22 patients there. “It’s unsafe.”
Davis’ attorney, Azzam Elder, said inadequate staffing and poor supervision allowed the assailant to access the victim’s room without being noticed.
After that assault, they alleged the hospital continued to operate with dangerously low staffing levels, failed to implement additional security measures, and did not take steps to separate vulnerable patients from violent or high-risk patients.
In June, Davis says it happened again. This time, a patient was allegedly raped on the morning of June 2.
Davis was off duty at the time but returned that Monday (June 3) and says she was shown a video of the assault.
“That’s when I went to report it because nothing happened the day she got raped,” said Davis. “DMC sends in their fixers, she’s assuming that they’re coming to finally solve the problem,” said Elder.
Instead, Davis says she was instructed not to talk to the victim or anyone about the rape. Davis and two others aware of the incident were fired days later.
The lawsuit filed on behalf of Davis alleges wrongful termination, retaliation, and slander.
Local 4 contacted the Detroit Police Department, who confirmed their Special Victims Unit was aware of both incidents and has forwarded their findings on the April assault to the prosecutor’s office.
They say they are aware of the June 2 assault and are investigating. We also reached out to DMC regarding the reported assaults and lawsuits.
Their spokesperson responded, saying:
“This baseless lawsuit is an inappropriate attempt by a disgruntled fired employee to personally benefit from an unfortunate situation. Lakisha Davis was terminated for violating HIPAA Privacy Rules designed to protect patients, violation of DMC’s policies, and repeatedly lying about her role in the investigation. In fact, Ms. Davis was already on a final notice and had recent disciplinary action before her termination.
It appears that Ms. Davis’ lies continue following her loss of employment. In her lawsuit, Ms. Davis indicates that she repeatedly raised concerns about this incident; however in the union grievance filed after her termination, she claims that she ‘Never at no time accessed any video and at no time did (she) report any incident.’ The DMC is fully cooperating with regulatory agencies and has taken appropriate actions to ensure patient safety.”