Black ICU nurse was pulled from her patients after a coworker’s complaint. Then her manager threatened with HR: ‘she was eavesdropping’

A Detroit nurse who posts on TikTok as Lee Monet (@big_leeskii) said she quit in the middle of an ICU shift after a coworker’s complaint led her manager to pull her away from patients. On-screen text in the video read, “Story time: I quit in the middle of my ICU shift.” Her caption stated, “You could never bully me to stay somewhere I’m not appreciated or safe.”

Lee Monet said being a Black nurse is “an anomaly in its own right,” and that working as an ICU Black nurse is “a whole different spectrum.” She stated that nurses in that position often run into situations where “the only option is to exit stage left.”

She described being called into her manager’s office after another nurse reported her. Lee Monet said the other nurse claimed she made her feel uncomfortable because “she was eavesdropping” on a private conversation Lee Monet was having with a friend who was also a nurse.

Lee Monet said the manager did not ask for her version of events

Lee Monet stated the conversation was not inappropriate. She said they were discussing “pro or anti-union” topics and “were joking amongst ourselves.” She said the other nurse told the manager that the language she used made her feel unsafe.

The manager, she said, pulled her away from her patients to warn that if she continued “said behavior,” the manager “would have to get HR involved.” Lee Monet stated the manager “did not ask me what actually happened” and “didn’t ask me for my version of events.” Such allegations of managerial misconduct have surfaced in other workplaces, including an IHOP where a manager allegedly targeted Black employees with racist remarks.

She said she told the manager, “don’t you worry about it.” When the manager asked what she meant, Lee Monet said she replied, “don’t you worry about it, I will handle that.” She then left the office, walked to the nurse station, and sat down at an available computer.

Lee Monet said she opened her company email, “CC’d and BCC’d all my personal emails,” and emailed the manager and HR together. She stated she told them that “effective immediately I will be vacating this said position that you begged me to take, rushed me off of orientation because you were so short on experienced nurses.”

She said she wrote that she did not feel safe “as a Black woman in this department” and included “a list of things that I would suggest in the future.” Lee Monet stated she finished her patient load, clocked out, and “those people never saw me again.” She added, “Thought you were short on nurses? You’re going to be shorter now.”

Viewers responded with their own workplace accounts. One commenter said their manager denied personal leave because of short staffing, then described sending a same-day resignation after the request was refused, adding, “They must have thought i was bluffing and they doubled down come Monday. That same day I emailed her and HR with my resignation effective immediately. Now you’re EXTRA short staffed.”

Another commenter described a similar complaint at work: “As a black PCT I almost lost my job because I unfriended a yt PCT on Facebook & it made her cry….” Some commenters focused on how the situation ended. One wrote, “Don’t let them bully you out. That’s what they want.” Another replied in the same thread, “And you gave them exactly what they wanted.”

A further commenter said, “It’s exhausting being a woman of color and even more exhausting being a nurse of color!! They assume we know nothing mind u we sat for the same NCLEX!!!” Another stated, “The manager put those patients in danger.”

One asked why the matter was not taken further: “Why did you not report the entire conversation to HR and sue for targeting?” Such incidents of racial profiling extend beyond healthcare, as when a Florida Black woman was watched for 20 minutes while shopping at Barnes & Noble before the manager called backup.