Dr. Ben Danielson, the former medical director of Seattle Children's Hospital’s Odessa Brown Children's Clinic (“OBCC”), prevailed on Monday in a race discrimination lawsuit against Seattle Children’s Hospital for its failure to address acts of racism within the institution. The King County jury awarded Dr. Danielson $21 million in non-economic damages.

Dr. Danielson resigned from Seattle Children’s in 2020 following a decades-long career as a pediatrician and as Medical Director of OBCC. He later brought the suit against hospital for creating and tolerating a racially hostile work environment and for retaliating against him for opposing the hospital’s discriminatory acts.

Throughout the month-long trial, Dr. Danielson’s trial team (Becky Roe, Jeff Robinson, Andy Boes, and Virginia Mendoza) presented the jury with evidence of race discrimination directed at Dr. Danielson, at his colleagues, and at the hospital’s patients and families. The trial also examined the profound harms that result from subjecting people to racism—even indirectly. The jury found in Dr. Danielson’s favor on both claims.

Following the jury’s verdict, the trial team shared, “We leave the courthouse today feeling a deep sense of gratitude for the witnesses who spoke up in the interest of truth, the community members who stood by Dr. Danielson’s side against racism, and the jurors who endured weeks of trial to perform their civic duty in the pursuit of justice. This is what a Reckoning looks like.”

Read more about trial in The Seattle Times: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/former-seattle-childrens-doctor-wins-21m-in-discrimination-lawsuit/