Fairview Health Services issued a public apology statement on July 25 for an alleged racial profiling incident of a Black investigator from the Minnesota attorney general’s office that occurred in April 2021 at Fairview’s Cedar-Riverside location.

Kayseh Magan is an investigator for the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the attorney general’s office. Magan’s attorney served a complaint on Fairview on June 29, 2021. and alleged he was unlawfully discriminated against based on his race, skin color and national origin, assault, battery and falsely arrested. Magan received a public apology from Fairview over a year after the incident occurred.

Complaint against Fairview

On April 23, 2021, Magan was instructed by his boss to serve a legal document to the Fairview corporate office located in Cedar-Riverside. When Magan arrived, he was wearing a black jacket and a polo that was embroidered with an emblem that read: “Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.” Magan also had his badge with him, which was issued by the attorney general’s office, according to the complaint.

He then introduced himself to the security guard and the receptionist at the front desk, displayed his badge and notified both of them of his reason for coming to the hospital. While waiting, he witnessed a shift change between the security guards and introduced himself to the new guard while in the lobby.

Both the receptionist and the security guard attempted to reach Fairview’s legal department but did not have any luck. Magan was then provided with a phone number to arrange service of the legal document but did not receive an answer when he called.

About 15 minutes later, Magan left the building and went to his car to call his supervisors. His supervisors instructed him to return to the building and leave the documents in a sealed envelope with reception.

Magan reentered the building about five minutes later and dropped the envelope off, noticing the same security and reception staff were there before he initially left the building. The receptionist said she could not accept the envelope and Magan replied that Fairview had been served. He then left the building and began walking toward his vehicle, according to the complaint.

As Magan was walking to his car, he noticed the security guard that was in the lobby following him out to his car and holding the envelope he had left. He was then surrounded by two additional security officers and assumed he was being detained.

Magan informed the officers he was there on behalf of the attorney general’s office and was serving a legal document. One of the security officers then ripped Magan’s identification badge from his waist and demanded to see the emblem on his shirt. The officer then said he was going to file an order of trespassing against Magan, the complaint alleged.

The security officer gave Magan his badge back and Magan began walking to his car, assuming he was free to go. As he entered his car, he noticed one of the officers was still following him and writing down his license plate number as he drove away.

In the complaint, Magan accused Fairview of discrimination and hostile accommodations, assault against all the parties involved, battery against the security officer that ripped of his badge and false arrest against all parties involved.

Magan was seeking $50,000, punitive and compensatory damages, attorney fees and any further relief the court deemed necessary due to this incident and the emotional trauma, distress and humiliation this incident caused, according to the complaint.

Magan did not wish to comment on if a settlement was reached or if he was given any financial compensation from Fairview but said in an email to the Minnesota Daily he considered the matter to be resolved and would not file the unfiled lawsuit in court.

Fairview’s Review of the incident

On April 29, 2021, Aimee Jordan, a spokesperson for Fairview, told the StarTribune the incident resulted from a miscommunication when Magan dropped off the document.

Jordan said in a statement to the StarTribune that Fairview would be conducting a “thorough review” of the incident and any inappropriate response from their security team would be addressed. The findings from the review have not been made public.

“Fairview should release the results of this investigation to the public as well as what actions were taken against the security guards who were involved in this incident,” Magan said in an email to the Minnesota Daily.

Public Apology

On July 25, Paul Onufer, the vice president and executive of system operations, issued a public apology statement to Magan on behalf of Fairview, over a year after the incident occurred. The apology, which was shared with the Minnesota Daily, acknowledged Magan was on their campus to serve legal documents as an investigator for the attorney general’s office.

The apology also acknowledged Magan was not trespassing on Fairview property and is not prohibited from returning to the campus.

“In addition, also on behalf of Fairview, I would like to apologize for how you were treated during the April 23 visit,” the apology stated. “Fairview strives to be a welcoming place for all visitors, patients and employees. It is never our intention to make anyone who is visiting for legitimate reasons and behaving appropriately feel unwelcome or unsafe.”

Fairview did not wish to comment further on the incident.

In an email to the Minnesota Daily, Magan said he wanted Fairview to acknowledge and apologize for the actions of their security guards.

“I did not want this incident to be swept under the rug,” Magan said. “I am disappointed that it took a lawsuit and more than a year to get this apology letter.”

Correction: A previous version of this article misstated what Magan’s attorney did on June 29, 2021. Magan’s attorney served a complaint on Fairview on June 29, 2021.