The Utah nurse who was arrested two months ago for refusing to let a police officer draw blood from an unconscious patient has said she is settling with Salt Lake City and the university that runs the hospital for $500,000.
Alex Wubbels was manhandled and arrested by
a Salt Lake City police officer because she was trying to do what was right for her patient. The footage of her arrest was released on August 31 and drew widespread condemnation. She has now revealed that there will be no lawsuit as she has settled for $500,000.
The university hospital nurse and her lawyer, Karra Porter, announced the move at a news conference on Tuesday, nearly two months after they released police body-camera video showing Detective Jeff Payne handcuffing Ms Wubbels. Attorney Karra Porter said that the agreement with Salt Lake City and the University of Utah takes the possibility of legal action off the table.
"There will be no lawsuit," she said.
The settlement covers all possible defendants in a lawsuit, including individual police officers, university police, and hospital security guards, and the payout will be divided among the city and the University of Utah. Wubbels plans to use part of the money to fund legal help for others trying to get similar body-camera video. She said that in cases like hers, video is essential to being heard and believed.
She said: "We all deserve to know the truth, and the truth comes when you see the actual raw footage, and that’s what happened in my case. No matter how truthful I was in telling my story, it was nothing compared to what people saw and the visceral reaction people experienced when watching the footage of the experience I went through."
She said she also plans to give a portion of the $500,000 to a nurse’s union and help lead a campaign to stop physical and verbal abuse of nurses on the job.
University of Utah hospital officials said in a statement they support Wubbels and have changed their procedures and training on how police and health care workers interact to ensure nothing similar happens again.
At the time when Ms Wubbel told Mr Payne he needed a warrant or the consent of the patient to draw blood after a July 26 car crash, she was only following hospital policy as the patient was not under arrest or suspected of wrongdoing. But Payne, who had neither a warrant nor the patient's consent, dragged Wubbels outside and handcuffed her as she screamed that she had done nothing wrong.
She was released without being charged but has said the incident left her feeling terrified and bullied. Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown has since apologized and fired Payne after an internal investigation found he violated department policies. Payne is appealing that decision, saying the firing was an unfair reaction to the negative publicity. Lt. James Tracy, a police supervisor who ordered the arrest of the nurse, was demoted to officer and also is appealing. He said he suggested Payne consider handcuffing the nurse and that his superiors had never informed him of the hospital’s blood-draw policy, according to appeal documents.
The patient whose blood they wanted to draw was an off-duty Idaho reserve police officer driving a semitrailer when he was hit by a man fleeing police in a pickup truck. He later died of his injuries.
Wubbels said she was relieved at the discipline and would be disappointed if it’s overturned, though she stressed that decision is out of her control.
She said: "The police have to police themselves. This is something I never would have expected to happen, but I’m also honored by the weight of it."
Watch the video of Wubbels' arrest below.
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