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Buffalo woman alleges healthcare discrimination

A lawsuit has been filed against a health care agency for discrimination.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — A North Buffalo woman has filed an unlawful discrimination complaint against Western New York Immediate Medical Care LLC and a security guard who worked at the company.

The woman, alleges that on May 23, 2022, she was "denied medical treatment due to race."

The plaintiff is black.

According to the complaint filed on Tuesday, June 3, 2024 in the Erie County Clerk's office, the woman had attended an event at Johnnie B. Wiley on Jefferson Avenue where community members were receiving support and medical resources after the mass shooting at Tops on Jefferson on May 14, 2022.

The woman learned at the event where health screens were performed that her "blood pressure was dangerously high."

She was eventually taken to the WNY Immediate Care that was located at 2497 Delaware at the time.

She claims she was "met with hostility" by the security guard.

The woman alleges the security guard said he would "make sure" that she did not receive treatment that day. 

In the end,  woman claims she "was told by the receptionists that she would not receive treatment that day."

According to the court document, the woman  "inquired if she was being refused treatment because she was Black."

She claims, the security guard "became angry" and told her to leave the facility and she alleges he "began to follow her" and "physically forced"  her "out of the facility by bumping her in the back with his chest, causing his private parts to make physical contact with her back." 

The woman claims she was taken via ambulance to a hospital for treatment.

She  is seeking punitive damages.

Two on Your Side reached out to the attorneys representing the plaintiff and Western New York Immediate Medical Care, LLC. 

WNY Immediate Care owns several immediate  and urgent care facilities across the state.

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