Cleared of Manslaughter, Black Nurse Now Faces Hospital in Landmark Discrimination Trial

DonQuenick Yvonne Joppy, a registered nurse (RN), is at the center of a harrowing legal battle that nearly destroyed her career and life. Joppy, who worked at The Medical Center of Aurora in Colorado, faced manslaughter charges in November 2020 following an incident involving end-of-life care for a 94-year-old patient.  In September 2021, the manslaughter charges against her were dropped “in the interest of justice.” Despite following a doctor's verbal orders, Joppy was terminated from her position and subsequently charged with serious crimes. The patient's death certificate indicated that he died of natural causes.

Her story, which includes allegations of racial discrimination, unfair treatment, and a justice system that seemed to work against her, has sparked outrage and raised important questions about equality and accountability in healthcare. 

DonQuenick worked at The Medical Center of Aurora for two years in the intensive care unit (ICU). She was nominated for the Daisy Award three times. The American Heart Association recognized her with an excellence award for performing CPR and saving a patient’s life. She also received excellent reviews from a previous patient she cared for in the ICU. 

Now, DonQuenick’s former employer, The Medical Center of Aurora, is set to face a federal jury trial this summer over allegations of civil rights violations against a Black nurse. 

Key Case Details

According to court documents, DonQuenick states that she was treated differently from her white co-workers and that a nurse supervisor who had previously acted in a discriminatory manner towards her raised concerns about the end-of-life care incident, leading to the investigation and subsequent charges. In April 2022, she filed federal charges against The Medical Center of Aurora, alleging racial discrimination. Employees, Katie Weihe and Bonnie Andrews, as well as HealthOne who owns the medical center, are also named in the lawsuit. 

The trial is scheduled against her former employer and is set to begin on August 11, 2025, at 8:30 a.m., presided over by Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney at the Alfred A. Arraj U.S. District Courthouse in Denver.

Key Case Details

• Plaintiff: Donquenick Yvonne Joppy, a Black nurse formerly employed by The Medical Center of Aurora (TMCA).
• Defendants: HCA-HealthONE LLC (d/b/a The Medical Center of Aurora), Bonnie Andrews, and Katie Weihe.
• Nature of the Case: The lawsuit alleges that the hospital retaliated against Joppy. While specific details about Document 317 filed on 12/12/24 are not available, earlier case documents provide insight into proceedings:
  • On March 5, 2024, Magistrate Judge Scott T. Varholak ruled on discovery disputes, including reopening Joppy's deposition for one hour via Zoom and extending the deadline for defendants to disclose Independent Medical Examination (IME) doctors.
  • The case has involved multiple depositions and discovery disputes.
  • Plaintiff’s objections to the reopening of her deposition and the extension of the IME deadline were overruled by the Court on April 9, 2024.
  • Magistrate Judge Varholak determined that the Plaintiff’s objections during the deposition were improper and ordered her to sit for an additional hour without scope limitations.
  • Defendants were granted additional time to identify a Massachusetts-licensed doctor for Plaintiff’s IME after their previous doctors were unable to conduct it remotely.

Racial Discrimination Accusations at the Medical Center of Aurora

The lawsuit was initiated by DonQuenick Joppy, a registered nurse who worked in the Critical Care/Trauma Unit at The Medical Center of Aurora (TMCA). Joppy alleges that from 2017 to 2019, she faced escalating harassment intended to "marginalize, segregate and undermine her based on stereotypical and harmful views of Black professionals."

The complaint further asserts that TMCA "unlawfully denied Ms. Joppy training and transfer opportunities, refused to investigate her complaints of race discrimination, placed her on an unwarranted Performance Improvement Plan (PIP), isolated her from colleagues, then ultimately terminated her employment because of her race and because she engaged in protected activity."

After her first year at The Medical Center of Aurora, things reportedly began to change for DonQuenick. She says she was treated differently from her White co-workers.  

She alleges she was not allowed to grow or advance in her career at the facility due to racial discrimination. According to the complaint, when she applied for an opportunity to train to work with cardiac patients, she was told by the charge nurse, Michael Oleszczuk, it required “much deeper critical thinking and much better organizational skills.” 

According to the claim, this same charge nurse allegedly told her on a separate occasion that she could “clean his house and clip his dog’s toenails.” 

>> Download the full case documents here

It is also alleged that DonQuenick was falsely accused of stealing a white patient’s credit card and purchasing a stethoscope. She was restricted to one area of the ICU and not allowed to go in the main break room or locker room with her co-workers. This was allegedly done without an investigation and thanked by human resources for not making a “big fuss” over it. 

DonQuenick also recounts how she was assigned three patients when there was a two-to-one ratio in the ICU. Her concerns continued to be ignored by management. When she attempted to transfer out of the ICU, the documents indicate she was put on a “retaliatory” performance improvement plan. 

The allegations of racial discrimination such as these are what DonQuenick says led to the investigation and manslaughter charges in the end. 

Dropped Manslaughter Charges

On May 24, 2019, a 94-year-old male patient was admitted to the ICU with an aggressive life-sustaining treatment plan for sepsis and respiratory failure. This approach remained in place until DonQuenick contacted the attending physician after the patient’s healthcare proxy, the niece and primary caregiver, became fully aware of the situation. Her shift ended at 7 AM. The day shift was short-staffed, so she stayed over to assist the day-shift nurse with the patient. 

The family requested the patient be removed from the ventilator, and the doctor gave a verbal order to another nurse to remove the patient from the ventilator around 8 AM. The other nurse delegated the verbal order to DonQuenick. She in turn called the respiratory therapist (RT). 

The RT was unable to come immediately but talked DonQuenick through turning off the ventilator. According to the claim, the RT visited the patient later and removed the ventilator. The patient died of natural causes according to the death certificate. 

Later, a nurse supervisor voiced concerns over how the patient’s end-of-life measures were handled. According to reports, this supervisor had acted in a discriminatory manner toward DonQuenick prior to this incident. The concerns of the supervisor prompted the hospital to investigate the incident. DonQuenick was found to have acted without a documented order. No order was on the chart until after the patient had expired. She was terminated for that and for staying over two hours after her shift ended. 

The investigation was reported to the Colorado Attorney General’s Office which decided to charge DonQuenick with manslaughter, negligent death of an at-risk person, and neglect of an at-risk person in November 2020. However, in September 2021, the charges were dropped “in the interest of justice.” 

Key findings from the Physician's hearing transcript include: 

• The attending physician directly communicated with the family and subsequently issued orders to discontinue aggressive care.
• The physician remained unaware of the events concerning the patient until nearly four years later when he provided a deposition. He was not included in any investigations, nor was he informed of the developments at the time.

Statement From The Medical Center of Aurora 

Rachel Robinson, The Medical Center of Aurora’s Director of Marketing and Public Relations said, “The lawsuit that has been filed against the Medical Center of Aurora is without merit and is a tactic by a disgruntled former colleague.” 

Robinson went on to say, “We have the utmost respect for our patients and their family’s end-of-life decisions, and we work hard to honor those decisions. When processes designed to ensure the comfort and dignity of patients are not followed, we take appropriate action, including reporting to the Colorado Department of Health and Environment, as required.” 

Statement From Joppy’s Attorney 

DonQuenick’s attorney, Jennifer Robinson said in 2022, “She’s pretty much homeless now and hasn’t recovered since all of this happened. Who is going to hire a nurse who has manslaughter charges against her, even if they are dropped? It’s just not cool to treat people this way.” 

Statement From DonQuenick 

DonQuenick reports suffering great loss due to the racial discrimination she experienced and the ultimate charges of manslaughter. She said, “It’s wild. My life has been turned upside down. I never killed anyone. I’m a great nurse.” 

Support of DonQuenick

As more and more people are hearing about DonQuenick’s situation, they are starting to speak out in support of DonQuenick. 

A GoFundMe account was set up in support of DonQuenick Joppy - view it here. 

A public support group on Facebook has been established to raise awareness and help garner support for DonQuenick. The name of the group is Support for DonQuenick RN.

This is a developing story, watch this space for updates.

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