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Day 4: The Confederate Nurses Enterprise - A Thought Experiment

Mar 19, 2026

As of today, March 19, 2026 two hundred and twelve days have passed since the verdict in Joppy v. HCA HealthOne, the landmark case at the intersection of racism in nursing, workplace mobbing and Civil Rights. 

The enterprise hasn’t commented on the verdict in Joppy v. HCA HealthOne. They’ve never acknowledged the facts underlying the case, or even responded to direct outreach by several people over several years, which leads to the obvious question: What’s their strategy? 

We can only speculate, so I developed a list of ten potential reasons why the enterprise hasn’t said anything about Joppy v. HCA HealthOne. We’re exploring each of these ten possible reasons over ten business days, and after three days evidence shows: 

  1. The enterprise has been aware of Joppy v. HCA HealthOne since early to mid 2022, when Joppy’s claims of race discrimination and retaliation were filed in US District Court;
  2. The enterprise is at least aware of the issues in Joppy v. HCA HealthOne, i.e. race discrimination and retaliation in the nursing workplace;
  3. The enterprise may not understand or appreciate the legal and historical significance of Joppy v. HCA HealthOne, which if true is a dereliction of duty.

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    Here's what remains:
  4. The enterprise doesn’t comment about ongoing cases;
  5. The enterprise doesn’t comment about individual cases or cases involving discipline, they only focus on issues of concern to the nursing profession;
  6. The enterprise finds the facts of Joppy v. HCA HealthOne disquieting;
  7. The enterprise fears Joppy v. HCA HealthOne undermines its branding;
  8. The enterprise fears it might upset its most dominant demographic if it mentions Joppy v. HCA HealthOne;
  9. The enterprise is aligned with the Defendant in Joppy v. HCA HealthOne;
  10. The enterprise has a financial conflict regarding Joppy v. HCA HealthOne

Today is Day 4, so let’s see if the enterprise is silent because the enterprise doesn’t comment about “ongoing cases.”

While technically one could consider Joppy v. HCA HealthOne “ongoing,” because the Defendant has not accepted the verdict and plans to appeal if the verdict isn’t nullified and a new trial granted, the case has been reported in traditional media, and also generated reporting and commentary in social media. 

  • “I’m soooo very happy that she won.  She should have received more.  This is happening in a lot of hospitals.” 
  • “I am so glad she stood up for herself! This happens way more than people realize and usually instead of  upper management addressing the problem they attack the one being bullied. I have been through this myself. Once you report something be prepared for all your future actions to be held under a microscope!” 
  • “Thank you ma'am.  Sorry she had to go through that. Big ups my nubian Queen  sister. Say it loud! Blessings” 
  • “She deserved a whole lot more than that. Did those hospital execs face consequences? Somehow I doubt it.” 
  • “If nothing happened to those who were racist toward her, lied on her and mocked her and they still have their jobs.... you better believe they are doing the same to minority patients and this will not be the last law suit against them.”

This possibility is also undermined by former enterprise Chief Nursing Officer Debbie Hatmaker, who said in the course of a wide-ranging two-hour two-part video podcast interview: “… when issues like this (RaDonda Vaught’s criminal trial) come to our attention, we often have outreach with the individual or their representative or their attorney and we let them tell us what would be most helpful, particularly when it’s a legal issue.” 

Maybe the enterprise hasn’t commented about Joppy v. HCA HealthOne because it thinks it’s still an ongoing case and the enterprise doesn't comment about ongoing cases? BUT the enterprise has engaged in discussions with participants in ongoing cases, and these discussions seem more routine than exceptional.

Claiming the enterprise hasn’t said anything about Joppy v. HCA HealthOne because the enterprise doesn’t comment about ongoing cases is inaccurate and undermined by the enterprise’s own actions.

Tommorow we'll speculate that the enterprise hasn't said anything about Joppy v. HCA HealthOne because the enterprise doesn’t comment about individual cases or cases involving discipline, they only focus on issues of concern to the nursing profession.