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A Miami nurse practitioner says her employer intentionally gave her COVID-19 after denying masks and testing to staff during the coronavirus outbreak.
Plaintiff Venise Jean-Baptiste says she works as a family nurse practitioner for Biscayne Medical where she was faced with negligent and even willfully reckless actions which caused her to contract COVID-19.
According to Jean-Baptiste’s recent lawsuit against her employer, she and her 2-year-old son have both faced significant issues due to the virus.
Jean-Baptiste has taken legal action against Piperato, Biscayne Medical and other defendants for allegedly contributing to the spread of COVID-19 and her subsequent injuries through their conduct.
In the early days of the coronavirus outbreak in March, Jean-Baptiste claims, she and other staff members were not allowed to wear masks. In fact, staff members were only permitted to wear face masks if they were symptomatic — despite the risk of asymptomatic spread.
As a sufferer of asthma, she was worried about her own health, as well as the health of her coworkers and their patients who could suffer from significant issues if they contracted COVID-19. However, even when Jean-Baptiste repeatedly asked for permission, she allegedly was rebuffed and told her input was not appreciated.
Jean-Baptiste was reportedly given a similar response after asking to use excess COVID-19 tests to screen staff members for the virus.
According to the coronavirus outbreak lawsuit, Biscayne Medical’s medical director, Dr. Joseph Piperato, said staff wouldn’t be able to use these tests because the office would have to shut down for two weeks in the event of a positive test.
Without testing, “there would be no positive test,” Jean-Baptiste explains.
Even after the coronavirus outbreak was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), Piperato allegedly refused to allow the use of face masks or the testing of staff members without his direct authorization.
Overall, the lawsuit claims Piperato refused to implement protocols, policies and procedures that would slow or stop the spread of COVID-19 and protect staff members and patients during the coronavirus outbreak.
Later in March, Piperato allegedly attended a Miami Beach party along with thousands of other partygoers despite the threat of the coronavirus outbreak.
The Winter Party Festival, an annual LGBTQ event that drew more than 10,000 attendees, ran from March 7 to 8. The day after, on March 9, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency.
After Piperato came back to work with a pronounced cough, Jean-Baptiste reportedly questioned him about the situation.
In response, she says, Piperato “deliberately breathed into her face saying, ‘If I’ve got it, now you’ve got it.’”
Days after this confrontation, Jean-Baptiste and her 2-year-old son both became seriously ill and were diagnosed with COVID-19.
Jean-Baptiste says she developed serious and life-threatening symptoms that required her to be hospitalized for weeks.
Further, the nurse practitioner allegedly developed complications, including blood clots and pulmonary emboli. She says these medical consequences will follow her for the rest of her life.
“The intentional battery by Piperato, and negligent, indifferent, careless, and reckless conduct, and the failure to adhere to medical guidelines to prevent the spread and transmission of COVID-19 collectively by the Defendants, has caused Jean-Baptiste and to experience severe and permanent physical and psychological injuries,” the coronavirus outbreak lawsuit contends.
In addition to these injuries, Jean-Baptiste has allegedly suffered from physical disabilities, mental anguish, a loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life, aggravation of a preexisting condition, loss of wages and loss of earning capacity.
According to Jean-Baptiste, her employers and superiors had a duty of care to the public, their employees and patients to comply with federal recommendations for COVID-19 management. Instead of taking reasonable steps to protect herself and others, the defendants allegedly chose to ignore the risks and put people at risk.
Legal representatives for the clinic have denied Jean-Baptiste’s allegations.
“The allegations of the complaint are unfounded and will be aggressively defended,” an attorney for Piperato and Project Access — the operator of Biscayne Medical — said in a statement to NBC6. “Project Access has at all times undertaken the steps necessary to comply with CDC and State guidelines to protect the public and its patients during the COVID pandemic and will continue to strive to protect and serve its local community.”
How has the coronavirus outbreak affected you? Tell us your story in the comment section below.
Jean-Baptiste is represented by John Elliott Leighton and Max N. Panoff of Leighton Law PA, along with Ariel M. Saban and Robert Solomon of Saban + Solomon.
The Nurse Coronavirus Outbreak Lawsuit is Venise Jean-Baptiste v. Project Access Foundation Inc., et al., Case No. 115289345, in the Circuit Court of the 11th Judicial Circuit in and for Miami-Dade County, Florida.
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2 thoughts onCOVID-Positive Nurse Claims Employer Intentionally Infected Her, Denied Staff Masks and Tests
What happened to ALL the patients who were exposed? They should sue as well.
My Dad passed on Oct 1st 2020 after being intubated at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Orange County, CA.
He went in feeling a little weak and his blood preassure was out of wack but overall was OK. They admitted him and told him he had COVID. They immediately injected him with convalescent plasma and put him on Remdesivir. They never instituted blood thinners until day 6 or 7 of his stay at the hospital. He developed a deadly blood clot in his stomach that caused him to lose both of his legs. after they amputated his legs he passed 7 days later. He did not want to be intubated but was told he needed to be intubated in order to do the amputation. The intensive care doctor admitted that they probably should have put him on blood thinners from day 1. He was a diabetic and they never even requested a copy of his file until day 7. All complications started on Day 6 after the Remdesivir treatment was over. I don’t believe Covid killed my dad, I believe all the mistakes made at the hospital killed him.