EDWARDSVILLE — A woman is suing health care providers, alleging she was prohibited from using a wheelchair for a disabled child at Anderson Hospital.
Rhealyn Alexander, as mother and guardian of her daughter, a minor, and Aliyah Laws filed a complaint March 13 in Madison County Circuit Court against Southwestern Illinois Health Facilities Inc., doing business as Anderson Hospital, and Allied Universal Protection Services LLC, alleging disability discrimination and racial discrimination.
According to the complaint, Alexander took her older daughter to Anderson Hospital in Maryville for a head injury sustained in a softball game on May 3, 2018. The plaintiff's adult sister, Aliyah Laws, alleges she waited in the waiting room with the plaintiff's minor daughter, who suffers from idiopatich multicentric osteolysis, which prevents her from walking.
Laws claims she had to go to the car and place the minor in a wheelchair because she cannot walk. The plaintiff allegedly was chased down by a hospital employee and told that she could not use the wheelchair. When Laws explained the child's disabilities, the defendant allegedly said the child did not look disabled, took the wheelchair and refused to offer Laws any assistance.
Alexander and Laws seek damages in excess of $50,000 as well as well as attorney fees and court costs. The plaintiff is represented by attorney John H. Leskera of Leskera Law Firm in Collinsville.
Madison County Circuit Court case number 19-L-359