A class action was filed in Wayne County Circuit Court against Tenet Healthcare, Inc., VHS of Michigan, Inc., VHS Sinai-Grace Hospital, Inc., and former registered nurse, Wilfredo Figueroa-Berrios. The complaint contains allegations that female patients were sexually assaulted over a period of years at DMC Sinai-Grace Hospital in Detroit, Michigan.
The plaintiff seeks to represent a class of Michigan women who were allegedly sexually assaulted or harassed by Figueroa-Berrios while hospitalized at Sinai-Grace. The plaintiff alleges that the Detroit Police Department identified numerous former patients as possible victims during Figueroa-Berrios' employment at the facility.
According to the filing, the alleged assaults include an August 2025 incident that is the subject of pending criminal charges and other incidents that purportedly occurred in earlier years, with one named plaintiff, identified as Jane Doe 1, alleging she was assaulted in the hospital's emergency department in March 2025 during what was represented as medical care.
The plaintiff asserts that Tenet Healthcare and its affiliated entities failed to adequately screen, supervise, or remove Figueroa-Berrios despite prior warning signs and past allegations of misconduct, thereby creating conditions in which vulnerable patients were exposed to sexual abuse. The lawsuit reference regulatory findings from 2024 in which the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services allegedly found Sinai-Grace out of compliance with patient protection standards, including deficiencies in abuse reporting, staff training, oversight, and fingerprint-based background checks for new hires with direct patient contact.
The plaintiff alleges negligence, negligent hiring and supervision, premises liability, and violations of Michigan's Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act. The plaintiff seeks monetary damages for physical and emotional harm as well as certification of the case as a class action under Michigan law.
Related civil filings by other law firms likewise allege that Sinai-Grace Hospital, DMC, and Tenet Healthcare were or should have been aware of risks associated with Figueroa-Berrios, including prior incidents and background information, yet the organizations allowed him to continue with unsupervised access to patients, leading to additional claims of sexual assault by multiple women.
Source: https://lawfirmnewswire.com/2025/11/sommers-schwartz-p-c-and-pitt-mcgehee-palmer-bonanni-rivers-file-class-action-lawsuit-alleging-systemic-sexual-assault-at-sinai-grace-hospital/
Commentary
In the above matter, the complainants cite to poor screening practices. Effective screening is the first control that healthcare organizations must have to keep known offenders and unfit providers away from vulnerable patients.
Proper screening begins with verifying identity, education, licensure, certifications, and work history directly with primary sources, and confirming there are no disciplinary actions or restrictions tied to any license in every state where the individual has practiced.
Criminal history checks should be run at appropriate county, state, and federal levels, paired with sex offender and, where available, abuse registry searches that match the risk profile of the role and its level of direct patient contact.
Organizations that bill Medicare or Medicaid are expected to screen candidates and current workers against the HHS OIG List of Excluded Individuals and Entities, state Medicaid exclusion lists, and the federal SAM database on hire and at regular intervals.
Screening also includes verifying past employment, asking targeted questions about safety, boundaries, and professionalism, and documenting explanations for gaps in employment or concerning findings.
Proper screening does not end at hire; it requires ongoing exclusion monitoring, criminal records monitoring where permitted, and re-verification of licenses and privileges to identify new sanctions or charges that could affect patient safety.
Policies should define role-based screening standards, ensure consistent application to employees, contractors, students, and volunteers, and require prompt escalation and removal from duty when new risk information appears.
Education for hiring managers and HR staff on these requirements, combined with regular audits of screening files, helps demonstrate diligence to regulators and insurers while reducing the likelihood that an unsafe individual will be placed in a position of trust with patients.
Additional Sources: https://www.hipaajournal.com/background-checks-for-healthcare-employees/; https://www.hipaajournal.com/hhs-oig-background-check-requirements/; https://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/2024/CMS_&_Joint_Commission_Requirements_2024_update.pdf
