St. Pete NAACP, former Bayfront nurse call for review of workplace discrimination claims

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - A former Orlando Health Bayfront nurse says she spoke up about a racially offensive display at work, then lost her job.

Now, the St. Petersburg NAACP is asking Orlando Health Bayfront to review her complaints and whether she faced retaliation after reporting them.

Orlando Health Bayfront workplace complaints

What we know:

Tamiko Keaton says she worked for Orlando Health Bayfront’s Baby Place program, which operates inside Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital.

Keaton says she repeatedly raised concerns through HR and ethics channels about workplace culture, staff treatment, patient safety and racial hostility.

One of those concerns involved a Valentine’s Day display.

The image shows a black heart-shaped character with large white eyes, a wide, white-outlined mouth, a red tongue and red hands. Keaton and the St. Pete NAACP say it resembled blackface and historical anti-Black caricatures.

Keaton says the display was posted on a medication room door in the nurses’ station.

"Everybody going in to access the patient's meds, different kinds of monitor machines we use, the wireless. You saw that for 28 days. I saw that," Keaton said.

St. Pete NAACP questions Valentine's Day display

Dig deeper:

The St. Pete NAACP sent letters to Orlando Health Bayfront and Johns Hopkins All Children’s asking for a review.

In those letters, the NAACP says Keaton provided photos, written statements and supporting materials.

The group says the bigger question is not just how the display got there. It’s what happened after Keaton says she reported it.

"When you see something, say something. There's zero retaliation. That is a bold-faced lie," Keaton said. "I have been blackballed for whistleblowing and something has to be done."

Keaton claims her complaints were not meaningfully addressed. She says she later faced harassment, targeting, retaliation and termination.

Esther Sanni, president of the St. Pete NAACP, says leadership needs to answer whether it knew about the concerns and how they were handled.

"Is it that you're just not aware of what's happening or is it that you are intentionally hoping that this person goes quiet so that you don't have to address it?" Sanni said. "Either of those situations doesn't work because the buck stops with the leadership."

Orlando Health response

The other side:

FOX 13 reached out to Orlando Health for a response.

In a statement, Orlando Health said, "We are committed to maintaining a workplace and patient-care environment that is respectful, inclusive and free from discrimination. Consistent with our policies and obligations to our team members, we don’t comment on personnel matters."

In a separate letter to the St. Pete NAACP, Orlando Health Bayfront President John Moore wrote that the hospital is familiar with the allegations raised by the former registered nurse.

Moore wrote that the allegations happened over the last two-plus years and were previously investigated and reviewed. He also wrote that Orlando Health Bayfront will further review the concerns raised by the NAACP, but said personnel and investigative confidentiality limit what the hospital can disclose.

FOX 13 also contacted the registered nurse named in the NAACP letter as the person who allegedly created the display. She told FOX 13 all communications would be handled by her employer, Orlando Health Bayfront.

Questions remain

What we don't know:

Hospital officials have not yet confirmed the specific findings of their previous internal investigations. It remains unknown if Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital will launch an independent review of the workspace inside its facility.

St. Petersburg