Philly woman sues nurse who berated her during her pregnancy in a 2022 viral video

A Philadelphia-area nurse caught on video last fall aggressively questioning a patient’s medical concerns and saying it would be “fraud” if the woman missed work due to pregnancy-related pain is being sued in federal court.

The lawsuit filed this week in the U.S. Eastern District of Pennsylvania is the latest fallout from a video that went viral in October showing Theresa Smigo, a nurse at Philly Pregnancy Center’s Norristown clinic, expressing doubt that Jillian Rightmyer, of Philadelphia, was in pain severe enough to warrant an early maternity leave. Even after a doctor agreed to give Rightmyer a note, Smigo continued doubting the pregnant patient’s condition.

After Rightmyer recorded and posted her interaction with Smigo on TikTok, its depiction of conflict between a Black, Muslim pregnant woman and a white health-care provider drew outrage.

“The behavior demonstrated by a white nurse-practitioner at the Philadelphia Pregnancy Center towards an expectant Black mother in a widely shared video was unethical, unprofessional, and unacceptable,” a joint statement from the American Nurses Association and Pennsylvania Nurses Association said.

The lawsuit, filed by attorneys for Rightmyer against Smigo, claims the nurse was negligent, racially discriminated against Rightmyer, and failed to properly provide medical care. The suit also alleges assault and battery.

The suit seeks unspecified damages.

Ozzie Geifman-Holtzman, the owner and operator of the center, and the center itself are also named in the suit, which claims they failed to properly hire, train, and supervise staff.

» READ MORE: In viral video, a Philly-area clinic staffer berates an expectant mother for asking for a doctor’s note to take off work

Smigo worked at the Norristown clinic as an independent contractor, but no longer works there, said her lawyer, James Kutz, in an interview Tuesday. She is still a licensed nurse in Pennsylvania, he said, but he declined to say whether she was still practicing.

The Philly Pregnancy Center and its lawyer did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.

“We have never encountered anything like this,” a statement on the center’s website said. “So, we are starting a top to bottom analysis of how we work with our patients to make sure we interact with each person in a medically and socially appropriate manner.”

Rightmyer’s lawyer did not return a call for comment.

Rightmyer, 25, had gone to the Norristown clinic in early October because of extreme back pain during her third trimester, the complaint states. She hoped to receive a doctor’s note that would allow her to begin maternity leave from a physically demanding job two months before her due date.

Smigo examined Rightmyer’s cervix in a procedure the patient described as aggressive, and wouldn’t give her a note, according to TikTok videos Rightmyer made.

Smigo didn’t doubt that Rightmyer was in pain, Kutz, said, but could not find evidence in an examination that would warrant exempting Rightmyer from work. He said Smigo told Rightmyer the facility had limited resources, and she should go to a hospital for a more thorough examination. But their interactions became more tense, he said.

“That telephonic video was preceded by a very serious and concerning exchange between the plaintiff and herself, none of which is on the video, and much of which was very threatening to the well-being of my client,” Kutz said.

Smigo called police on the patient; they showed up but made no arrests, Kutz said. In her account, Rightmyer said she asked for a second opinion and during one exchange called Smigo a “weirdo,” which prompted the nurse to call police.

Rightmyer was able to contact a doctor by phone, and that doctor agreed to give her a note.

According to Rightmyer, Smigo then confronted her in the lobby, and that’s when Rightmyer began filming. Smigo accused Rightmyer of lying, and then asked why she got pregnant.

“What were you thinking about when you were pregnant — that you were not going to work?” Smigo said. “Because I had three kids. I worked up until the second they were born.”

In the video, Smigo said Rightmyer leaving work due to her pregnancy would be fraud.

“But how do you know how my body feels? My legs? My back? How do you know how that feels? How you know how my nausea feels? How you know how my cramps feel?” Rightmyer responded.

At one point in the video, Smigo appears to tap Rightmyer with a laptop case.

Kutz disputed that Smigo assaulted Rightmyer.

The nurse called the police again shortly after the confrontation, according to the lawsuit.

“A woman of color simply requested adequate prenatal and medical care, to no avail,” the suit states. “Plaintiff’s requests were met with discrimination, hostility and abuse from Defendants’ staff.”

Rightmyer went into early labor after the encounter, the suit states, and her baby needed a longer-than-usual hospital stay.

Maternal mortality among Black women is nearly three times more common than among white women in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Contributing to this crisis are providers not listening to Black women because of bias and racism,” the American Nurses Association and Pennsylvania Nurses Association statement said.

Black women are also more likely to have their pain insufficiently treated, their concerns ignored, and experience health complications during and after pregnancy. Institutional racism within health-care systems and doctors’ unconscious bias play a role in worse outcomes for Black parents regardless of economic background, compared to white parents.

» READ MORE: Philly first city to track instances of severe childbirth complications in real time

Smigo’s behavior fails to meet basic nursing tenets, that statement said, which included treating pain and “providing nonjudgmental care.”

“The NP (nurse-practitioner) was verbally disrespectful, aggressive, and accusatory, minimizing the patient’s dignity, integrity, and humanity,” the statement said.