Jury awards former Seattle Children's doctor $21 million in discrimination case
Seattle Children’s Hospital said is it evaluating its options after a King County jury on Monday awarded the former head of its Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic $21 million in damages in a racial discrimination lawsuit.
Dr. Ben Danielson sued the hospital system in October 2023 after resigning nearly three years earlier, saying the institution had long ignored issues facing staff and patients of color. Jurors said Danielson proved his claim that Seattle Children’s was a hostile work environment and that he had been unlawfully retaliated against for calling attention to structural racism in the system.
Danielson declined the Business Journal’s request for an interview. In a statement, Seattle Children’s said, “Based on the lack of evidence presented, we are extremely disappointed in this extraordinary reward,” and that its “priority is to ensure every child has access to high quality, equitable care.”
Since departing Seattle Children’s after a 20-year career, Danielson started a program at UW Medicine to end youth incarceration and detention. More recently, in May 2023, he was awarded a UW Medicine endowed chair, the highest award a university can give a faculty member.
https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2024/12/24/seattle-childrens-ben-danielson-lawsuit.html