Traumatized nurses sue hospital after fake active shooter situation

Traumatized nurses sue hospital after fake active shooter situation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Patrick Hale, Esq. Tel         :  1-800-800-1414 Email    : phale@halelaw.com

Hospital Employee posed as an Active Shooter while Hospital assured Nurses it wasn’t a Drill

OCALA, FLORIDA- Two Nurses employed by a hospital in Ocala, Florida have sued their employer, claiming they were severely traumatized during an “active shooter” incident at work that turned out to be a simulation staged by the hospital, and carried out without any prior notice or warning. The armed man who terrified a group of nurses was a hospital employee who was given a toy gun and tasked with playing the role of a gunman and frightening the trainees. Plaintiffs Dominique Tucker and Lauren Palazini are both nurses who were recently hired by AdventHealth Ocala Hospital. They allege that on November 30, 2021, they were attending mandatory mass shooter training at a AdventHealth Ocala facility. After watching news footage from the Las Vegas Mass Shooting of October 1, 2017, trainees were startled by an armed man wearing a baseball cap and mask who suddenly tried to enter the room through an outside locked door, without success. Loud bangs that sounded like gunfire followed, and then the gunman stormed into the room, pointed a gun at trainees and demanded that everyone get on the floor and not talk.  Hospital staff denied that it was a drill, and multiple nurses, in fear of their lives, called 911 to report what they thought was an active shooter situation.   Approximately 10 minutes into the incident, the hospital training staff admitted that it was a drill and explained that the “active shooter” was actually a hospital employee who was roleplaying as an active shooter- complete with what appeared to be a semi-automatic pistol.  Hospital staff explained to the Plaintiffs that the trainees in the prior class were told in advance that an active shooter simulation would occur during their training, but they hardly reacted to it because they had been notified.  This time, Hospital staff wanted the Plaintiffs’ training class to be more traumatized. The Marion County Sheriff’s office arrived on scene because they were never notified of the planned active shooter drill by AdventHealth Ocala.  Plaintiffs Tucker and Palazini are seeking unspecified damages from the hospital in their newly filed lawsuit. They are claiming that they’ve been diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a result of the incident.  “The Hospital wanted its Nurses to be traumatized like they would be from a real gunman- so they made a decision not to warn my clients about it beforehand.  Only after the damage was done did AdventHealth admit that the whole thing was staged. They got the result they wanted- and as a result, two women now have PTSD which has significantly affected their lives. We will ask a jury to hold AdventHealth Ocala responsible and accountable for its ill-conceived stunt,” said Tucker and Palazini’s attorney, Patrick Hale, of Hale Law in Sarasota.  ### For interviews or more information about this story, please call Patrick Hale at 1-800-800-1414 or email:  phale@halelaw.com