Patient care, racial issues lead to TMC Healthcare suit

TUCSON — Two former employees at one of the city’s largest medical facilities are accusing their old bosses of discriminating against blacks and sweeping a possible patient assault under the rug, according to a recent lawsuit.

The 12-page complaint comes from Akhere and Debbie Okojie, an African-American couple who worked for TMC Healthcare from January 2004 until September 2007.

The Okojies, who are originally from Nigeria, claim the problems at TMC began in December 2005. That’s when Debbie notified her boss by email that a co-worker was allegedly creating a hostile work environment by making sexual jokes while they worked together at the Youth Unit, the complaint states.

The co-worker allegedly discussed his first orgasm, sex with his wife and made racial jokes such as, "South Africa was better when the whites ruled; now all they have is criminals who can’t run the country," according to the complaint. Debbie claims he also insulted her and mentioned a white-supremacist group. She says the hospital did not investigate the matter.

According to the complaint, problems at the hospital started to snowball. Debbie claims the co-worker showed inappropriate moves containing nudity to kids in the Youth Unit; she witnessed TMC security guards allegedly restraining and assaulting an 18-year-old patient; and supervisors created a hostile work environment by ignoring her repeated emails for help, transferring her to another unit and firing her husband, Akhere.

But TMC’s top executive, Frank Alvarez, reinstated Akhere. One week later, he left office.

Debbie claims the problems continued until she and her husband were terminated on the same day for allegedly committing time card fraud.

The Arizona Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigated the incidents and found the Okojies had a right to sue the hospital. Now the matter is before a federal judge in Tucson.

Tucson lawyers Don Awerkamp and Ivelisse Bonilla are representing the Okojies.