Morgue worker shared graphic photos with 20,000 Instagram followers, NY lawsuit says
A woman working as a morgue attendant was fired after she was accused of sharing “graphic and disturbing” photos of autopsies to Instagram and TikTok, according to a lawsuit.
The self-described influencer — who has nearly 20,000 Instagram followers with #autopsybae written in the bio of her profile — continued posting morgue content after she lost her job on March 17 at a Northwell Health hospital in New York, a complaint filed April 28 says.
The photos and videos overlaid with music included a stillborn baby, internal organs and amputated body parts and a “potentially cancerous specimen from a uterus,” according to the complaint.
She’s accused of having an “archive” of content she had taken at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center’s morgue that she used to boost her social media presence, the complaint says.
Now, Northwell is suing the former employee and accusing her of violating the organization’s policies when she worked there. The lawsuit was filed in Nassau County Supreme Court.
“Northwell will continue to suffer irreparable harm to its reputation as a result of (her) breach of her duty of loyalty and care,” the complaint says.
McClatchy News is not naming the woman because she’s not accused of criminal acts or facing criminal charges.
The defendant said in a May 8 statement to McClatchy News that the posts she shared to social media were not taken at Northwell’s morgue. Instead, she said her posts were taken from other medical Instagram pages, such as the account @MedicalTalks with 3 million followers.
“I’m actually very hurt and upset by this because I love my job,” she said.
“Northwell is using slanderous tactics to attack me because I spoke up about the Morgue being under-appreciated during the COVID-19 pandemic,” she added.
The woman said she held other autopsy jobs prior to working for Northwell and has never previously been accused of sharing morgue photos online.
As of May 8, she still has autopsy posts up on Instagram under the reels section of her account.
Northwell declined to comment on the lawsuit given the active litigation, according to a statement provided to McClatchy News by spokesman Joe Kemp.
“Northwell Health strives to provide the highest level of care to its patients, patients’ families and communities,” Northwell said.
Northwell Health discovers the autopsy photos online, lawsuit says
On Jan. 30, the woman started working for Long Island Jewish Medical Center where, as a morgue attendant, she’d help receive and release bodies, transport bodies and clean and organize the room where autopsies were performed, according to the complaint.
The complaint says morgue attendants don’t perform autopsies. The woman told McClatchy News that assisting autopsies is included in the organization’s morgue attendant job description.
She accused the company of trying to “discredit” her job title.
According to the complaint, the former worker shared social media posts saying she’s “obsessed with autopsies” and asked her followers “What are some things you guys would like to see?”
Northwell confronted the woman on March 17 when it discovered the autopsy posts after her co-worker reported her, according to the complaint.
On that day, she’s accused of expressing “no remorse or regret for her conduct” and was fired for violating Northwell’s social media policies, the complaint says.
She agreed to delete the photos taken from the morgue, but went on to repost them after she was fired, according to the complaint. The images from Long Island Jewish Medical Center’s morgue were still on her social media pages when the lawsuit was filed, the complaint says.
According to the complaint, Northwell’s social media policy says in part that:
“A user should not use Northwell Health resources to create or post content to social media sites unless doing so is part of their job function and has been specifically approved by their manager in advance.”
The former worker told McClatchy News that her Northwell supervisor had supported her social media activities and encouraged her to create a morgue account for Northwell after noticing her Instagram success.
She said the supervisor gave her permission to record autopsy content and they had discussed “positioning specimens for better camera angles.”
“I have no idea why Northwell doesn’t want to believe that my post were NOT taken at their morgue,” she said.
She added that the lawsuit “was filed in an attempt to embarrass and shame me and look like I’m a social media clout chaser.”
Northwell is accusing her of committing tortious acts in New York.
A tort is considered an act that causes harm and “amounts to a civil wrong,” according to Cornell Law School.
On May 8, McClatchy News contacted attorneys Matthew Bruno and Ronald Blum, from Manatt, Phelps & Phillips law firm, who are representing Northwell in the lawsuit, but did not immediately receive a response.
Body decomposed ‘beyond recognition’ at coroner’s before family notified, lawsuit says
Librarian says she’s being called a child predator over books at school. She’s suing
WWE writer fired for objecting to racist stereotypes in wrestling scenes, lawsuit says
