We have a similar problem going on at my work...which is with younger brain injured patients seeking rehab.
It's discrimination. And it's against the law. Every one of us has a legit case to file if we so choose. Employees cannot be discriminated against because of race, color,religious affiliation, gender or sexual orientation. Management has a legal responsibility to make sure it's employees are not being discriminated against. Having said this, a patient with dementia is not in their right mind and staff would not stand a chance in a legal battle over this.
The population I work with are usually under 25 and their parents are usually the guardians, of course. We have many LNA's who are African American and who come from African nations; we have quite a few of the "Lost Boys" from the Sudan who immigrated to the US to seek a better life; my employer sponsored a lot of them, trained them, housed them, ect...they are excellent aides and even better people!
The patients love them. Their parents do not. Why? Because of their perceived concerns about language. The aides DO have an accent, but it's slight and barely noticeable. They have a better than American understanding of English, in reading and writing skills. They comprehend very well. These parents are, frankly, biased and hateful towards these aides. An management has allowed this situation to contaminate our entire unit, LOL...
We have parents picking and choosing WHICH aides ARE ALLOWED and not ALLOWED to work with their son or daughter. We have parents DEMANDING the "services" of certain aged aides now as well...some want a younger aide who is capable of going on miles-long-walks with patients; others demand aides who work out often and can manage to lift their BIG kids (YES....we have parents who UTTERLY refuse to allow my facility to use a Hoyer Lift on their adult child, who weighs 270 lbs and is 6' 4"....); and we have a few parents who demand older aides who have their own children because they tend to be more nurturing and kind YET know how to deal with manipulative behaviors...
It's SO bad that last weekend I kid you all not: Because of scheduled days off and replacement coverage and all that, every AIDE who was working was not "allowed" to WORK with any of the patients. This got management into hot water with the parents, who DEMANDED to KNOW WHO allowed staff the time off and all that.
Its makes us all madder than hell that this has been allowed to happen; management could have and should have nipped this bulloney in it's bud way back when WE warned them that this was getting out of hand.
It's fraud. It's illegal, I am sure...and I'm about to make some phone calls to see what can be done to end this.
