Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital nurse fired to silence whistle blowing
PALO ALTO — An ex-nurse at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford is suing his former employer, claiming that he was fired because he spoke out about unsafe practices he observed while working in neonatal care, including the unchecked use of restraints on premature babies.
Spencer Lucas, 31, also alleges in the lawsuit filed in a Santa Clara County Superior Court that he called attention to other misconduct, including threatening language and sexual harassment. Lucas says he was “discharged” from his job as a patient-care manager last November — after just five months on the job — so that he couldn’t criticize the hospital to state inspectors who had gone there investigating an unrelated complaint.