Alex Wubbels, the Utah nurse that refused to take blood from an unconscious patient and was roughed up and arrested for refusing to break the law has been well compensated for her pain and embarrassment. The cop has been fired and Wubbels a former Olympian has received a half a million dollar settlement.
What’s the history with this case?
Wubbels in July refused to draw the blood of an unconscious patient, who was brought in to the hospital as an accident victim, without a warrant.
Detective Jeff Payne of the Salt Lake City Police Department arrested Wubbels for not complying with his orders, restrained her, and placed her in a patrol vehicle. Wubbels was later released without being charged.
Video of the incident was captured on bodycam footage of another officer who was present.
The incident was widely publicized, and as a result, Payne — also a police phlebotomist — was suspended from the city police department’s blood-draw unit with pay. He was later put on administrative leave pending investigation.
Additionally, Payne was fired from his second job as an ambulance driver.
Salt Lake County district attorney Sim Gill later confirmed that he opened a criminal investigation into the incident.
As a result of the incident, the University of Utah Hospital changed its policies regarding police presence in patient care areas.
The FBI began looking into the incident, investigating whether or not Wubbels was subjected to a violation of her civil rights.
Payne was fired from the police department in October after an internal investigation found he had violated departmental policies.
How much did Wubbels receive?
Wubbels settled for $500,000.
According to ABC News, Wubbels plans to use a portion of her settlement to fund legal assistance for those trying to obtain bodycam footage. Wubbels — who is still employed at the University of Utah Hospital — 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.”
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