{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-13T06:56:33.551Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"staffing","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"unknown","evidence":"","year":"","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":1,"coverage":{"cases":1,"countries":1,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":0,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":0,"lawsuits":1,"regulatory":0,"minors":0,"coreRelations":0,"contextualRelations":0,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":1,"relationPending":0,"relationUnknown":1},"countingNote":"Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.","affectedCountNote":"Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.","source":"AI incidents","publisher":"NOPE","url":"https://nope.net/incidents","license":"CC BY 4.0"},"incidents":[{"id":"2026-us-hospital-chain-data-scientist-alleges-firing-after-reporting-unauditable-ai-staffing-tool","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'This is a retaliatory discharge action brought by Russell against HCA under the Tennessee'; 'Case 3:26-cv-00983 Document 1 Filed 07/15/26'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Angelique Russell filed a retaliatory-discharge complaint against HCA Healthcare in the Middle District of Tennessee on 15 July 2026 under the Tennessee Public Protection Act.","causal_attribution":"Established by the filed complaint."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Russell determined that Timpani, an AI system whose daily census predictions help set nurse'; 'a rolling basis, leaving HCA permanently unable to reproduce or audit the staffing decisions'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'She accused HCA of routinely deleting data the tool uses to create schedules, which prevented auditing how well it worked'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The complaint alleges that Timpani, an AI system whose daily census predictions help set nurse staffing, overwrote the data behind its predictions so that HCA could not reproduce or audit the staffing decisions it drove.","causal_attribution":"The plaintiff's allegation; WIRED relays the same complaint."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'On March 5, 2026, weeks after Russell first raised Timpani'; 'HCA placed Russell on a Performance Improvement Plan'; 'On April 3, 2026, days after Russell escalated her concerns to HCA'; 'HCA terminated her employment.'; 'The performance deficiencies cited in the PIP were pretextual.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'sued the company for allegedly firing her in retaliation for raising concerns about Timpani'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The complaint alleges that HCA placed Russell on a performance improvement plan on 5 March 2026, weeks after she first raised the defects, and terminated her on 3 April 2026, days after she escalated her concerns to its Director of Responsible AI and compliance department, and that the stated performance reasons were pretextual.","causal_attribution":"The plaintiff's allegation of retaliation; untested."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'HCA has yet to formally respond in court, and Russell declined to comment.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"WIRED reported that HCA had yet to respond formally in court and that Russell declined to comment.","causal_attribution":"Status as reported by WIRED on 2 October 2026."}],"effects":[{"label":"a data science manager says she was put on a performance plan and fired after reporting that an AI staffing tool could not be audited","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.tnmd.110375/gov.uscourts.tnmd.110375.1.0.pdf","kind":"court_record","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in full in English on 2026-10-13 (RECAP PDF, HTTP 200, converted with pdftotext); no translation. The complaint establishes that the allegations were made, not that they are true.","independence_group":"russell-complaint"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.wired.com/story/ai-making-mess-of-nurses-schedules-they-say-its-a-safety-issue/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in full in English on 2026-10-13 (HTTP 200); WIRED summarises the complaint and adds that HCA had not responded and Russell declined comment, so it is grouped with the complaint.","independence_group":"russell-complaint"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["institutional_use"],"contexts":["work"],"unknowns":["HCA's response to the allegations and its stated reasons for the termination.","Whether the Timpani defects alleged in the complaint have been confirmed or corrected."],"geography":{"basis":"The complaint states that Russell performed her work for HCA remotely from Minnesota and that HCA has its principal place of business in Nashville, Tennessee; the suit was filed in the US District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. The event country rests on where the work was performed and the employer is based, both in the United States.","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a consequential-response case: a former HCA data science manager alleges in a federal complaint that she was fired after reporting that HCA's Timpani AI staffing system could not be audited. The allegations are attributed to the complaint and have not been tested; the plaintiff is named because she brought the suit publicly.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-13"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The harm alleged is HCA's response to an employee's objection to its AI system: the complaint says Russell reported that Timpani, an AI system whose census predictions help set nurse staffing, could not be audited or reproduced, escalated this to HCA's Director of Responsible AI and compliance department, and was placed on a performance plan and fired. No AI output about Russell is alleged, so no relation describing an AI system's action toward her is established (unknown; consequential response). The connection to AI rests on the complaint's allegations.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["unknown"]},"name":"Lawsuit says HCA fired a data science manager after she reported that its Timpani AI nurse-staffing tool could not be audited","summary":"Angelique Russell, a former manager of data science at HCA Healthcare, sued the hospital chain in federal court in Tennessee on 15 July 2026 for retaliatory discharge. Her complaint alleges that she found that Timpani, an AI system whose daily census predictions help set nurse staffing, overwrote the data behind its predictions so that its staffing decisions could not be audited or reproduced; that HCA placed her on a performance improvement plan weeks after she raised this; and that HCA fired her on 3 April 2026, days after she escalated her concerns to its Director of Responsible AI and its compliance department. She says the performance reasons were pretextual. These are allegations; HCA had not formally responded in court when WIRED reported on the suit on 2 October 2026.","incidentDate":"2026-04-03","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-07-15","aiSystem":"Timpani, which the complaint describes as an AI-enabled staffing and census forecasting system developed by HCA whose daily census predictions help set nurse staffing levels","aiProduct":"Timpani","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["professional_harm","financial_loss"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to her complaint, Russell was placed on a performance improvement plan and then fired after reporting that HCA's Timpani AI staffing system could not be audited; she seeks lost pay and damages. HCA had not formally responded in court when WIRED reported the suit.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: the plaintiff who alleges she was fired. Nurses and patients affected by staffing are not counted in this record.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US-TN","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"lawsuit_filed","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.tnmd.110375/gov.uscourts.tnmd.110375.1.0.pdf","primarySourceLabel":"Complaint, Russell v. HCA Healthcare, Inc., M.D. Tenn. No. 3:26-cv-00983, filed 15 July 2026 (ECF 1)","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-13T03:27:47.102175+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-13T03:27:47.102175+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["workplace-ai","retaliation","whistleblower","hospital","staffing","lawsuit"]}]}