Late Congresswoman’s Family to Sue Caregiver for Negligence

WASHINGTON — This never should have happened.

That was the sentiment expressed by the attorney for the family of trailblazing Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas, who announced Thursday that they are suing the rehabilitation center in which she spent her last days for alleged negligent care.

Johnson, whose life was a series of firsts, died Sunday while in the care of the Baylor Scott & White Health System and Baylor Scott & White Institute for Rehabilitation in East Dallas, Texas. She was 89.

Over the course of her professional life she was the first African American to serve as chief psychiatric nurse at Dallas’ VA hospital, and later became the first African American from Dallas to serve in the Texas Senate since Reconstruction.

In 1992, Johnson became the first registered nurse to be elected to Congress, and by the swearing in of the 116th Congress in January 2019, she became the dean of Texas’ congressional delegation.

She was also the first woman to chair the House Science, Space and Technology Committee.

Johnson retired at the end of the 117th Congress. But it is the very end of her life that is the subject of a lawsuit filed by attorney Les Weisbrod.

News of the lawsuit was originally published by The Dallas Morning News.

Weisbrod and Johnson’s son, Kirk Johnson, later addressed the media at the attorney’s Lake Highlands, Texas, office.

According to a press release circulated by Weisbrod’s office, Kirk Johnson visited his mother at the rehabilitation facility shortly after she underwent back surgery and found her “lying in her own feces and urine.” 

Kirk Johnson said that after learning his mother had been pushing the call button for a prolonged period of time seeking help, he went to find aid himself and could not locate a single nurse.

He said he then went to the administrator’s first-floor office, and asked to speak to the person in charge. By the time the facility’s CEO, David Smith, accompanied Johnson back to his mother’s room, he found staffers cleaning up the feces.

He said another administrator, who had already arrived in the room, assured him someone else had been assigned to care for his mother.

The facility CEO allegedly turned to Johnson and told him, “This should not have happened.”

According to Rep. Johnson’s medical records, the retired lawmaker had experienced “some post-op complications.” The records appear to verify her son’s account of what he saw and experienced. They go on to note that three days later, Rep. Johnson began experiencing “copious purulent drainage from the low lumbar incision.”

On Thursday, Weisbrod said the laboratory reports leave no doubt that the infection that killed the former congresswoman was caused by “the failure of the staff at Baylor Scott & White Institute for Rehabilitation to properly care for Mrs. Johnson and allowing her to have laid in her own feces.”

Johnson underwent another surgery to repair the infected wound and was moved to a nursing facility in mid-October, then to her home on Dec. 18 with hospice care.

A spokeswoman for Baylor Scott & White Health declined to comment.

Upon learning of Rep. Johnson’s death, President Joe Biden said, “Eddie Bernice turned a childhood dream to work in medicine into a lifetime of service, fighting to get millions of Americans access to health care, education and opportunity. 

“Early on, as the chief psychiatric nurse at the Veterans Administration in Dallas, she helped our nation to fulfill its most sacred obligation, to care for the troops we sent into harm’s way when they’re home,” he continued. “And in the Texas statehouse and then over 30 years as the first Black American elected to Congress from Dallas, she fought to expand civil rights, to create jobs, to combat the climate crisis and much more. 

“Recently, her leadership was crucial in passing our bipartisan infrastructure law and CHIPS and Science Act in 2022, creating tens of thousands of good-paying jobs and making sure America leads the industries of the future,” Biden said.

“Throughout her life, and as the former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, she was an icon and mentor to generations of public servants, through whom her legacy of resilience and purpose will endure,” he added.

Vice President Kamala Harris lauded Johnson as a public servant who “was always clear-eyed about what she was fighting for: the right of every person in Dallas and across the country to live free from discrimination and to have the opportunity to live up to their full potential.”

“As the first person of color and woman to chair the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, she played an instrumental role in the passage of the CHIPS and Science Act, which is making historic investments in our economy, innovation and HBCUs,” Harris said.

Recalling their days working together as members of the Congressional Black Caucus, Harris said, “many have benefited from her tireless work, myself included. Her legacy and leadership will be felt for generations to come.”

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., recalled Johnson as “a powerful force in the U.S. Congress, always focused on the future.”

“As chair of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee, she insisted on investing in STEM education — with an emphasis on equity and inclusion — so that American minds shape the economy of tomorrow and solve the great challenges of our time,” Pelosi said.  “How fitting that Chairwoman Johnson’s legendary legacy, cemented with the CHIPS and Science Act that she helped craft, will transform America for decades to come.”

Former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., also commented on Johnson’s passing, saying, “Our country has lost a great American, a great Texan and a great trailblazer.

“I had the privilege of serving with Eddie for 30 years in the House of Representatives,” Hoyer said. “I watched her display her extraordinary passion for service, her intellect, her sense of decency and amiability, and her determination to do right by those who put their faith in her. 

“As the first Black woman elected to public office in Dallas, the first nurse elected to Congress, and the first African American and woman to chair the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, Eddie broke barriers at every stage of her career,” he continued.

“Crucially, she helped America blaze its own trails. She worked tirelessly to ensure that our nation remains at the cutting edge of science, research and development. I was proud to work with her on that mission — whether securing the historic CHIPS and Science Act or supporting the James Webb Telescope project and other NASA initiatives,” he said.

“Eddie also fought to ensure that Dallas and other diverse communities across America will stand at the forefront of American innovation. I was pleased to attend the dedication ceremony to rename Dallas’ Union Station after Eddie — a fitting tribute to one of the city’s greatest champions,” Hoyer said.

Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue