Last week, a video went viral of a North Texas woman in active labor while hospital staff seem to ignore her.
Now, the family in the video has retained high-profile attorneys from a firm that previously represented the families of George Floyd and Botham Jean, both Black men who were killed by police.
The family at the center of last week’s viral video is now represented by two law firms, according to a statement the firms sent to The Dallas Morning News.
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The two firms are Chicago-based Romanucci & Blandin and Houston-based Dunk Law Firm.
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“The law firms are exploring all legal remedies in this case,” the legal team wrote in a statement, “and are becoming increasingly concerned with the disparity and the level of care being provided to people of color versus those who are not.”
The Dallas Morning News is not naming the woman at this time, because she has not agreed to an interview, and her attorneys have not agreed to publicly use her name.
The case came into the public eye through a social media post.
A video posted on TikTok last week shows a Black woman, screaming in pain and writhing in a wheelchair, in a waiting area at Dallas Regional Medical Center in Mesquite. As she screams through contractions, a hospital employee calmly asks her questions about her pregnancy and her medical history.
A text overlay on the video, which was posted by the woman’s mother, says the hospital staff kept the woman waiting for more than 30 minutes. She gave birth 12 minutes later, according to the video.
Dallas Regional Medical Center sent out a statement saying the situation is under review. A hospital spokesperson has not provided any other information or answered follow-up questions about the review.
The video, though, has struck a chord.
The social media post racked up tens of millions of views over the course of a week, garnering reaction and news coverage from across the country, as well as public comment from Texas lawmakers.
The reactions have placed the video in the context of racial disparities in medical treatment and outcomes, which are particularly stark for Black women. Nationwide, the maternal mortality rate for Black mothers is triple the rate for their white counterparts.
A directory sign for the Dallas Regional Medical Center in Mesquite on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025.
Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer
On social media, a number of commenters have called for the family to report the hospital staff or sue the hospital. The family’s attorneys have not yet released information on how their legal representation will take shape or what steps they plan to take.
Romanucci & Blandin has worked on high-profile civil rights cases in the past.
The firm worked alongside attorney Ben Crump and others to represent the family of Floyd, who was killed by Minneapolis police officers in 2020.
Floyd’s death sparked a massive wave of protests around the country and national conversation on racial injustice and police violence. The city of Minneapolis settled a civil lawsuit from Floyd’s family for $27 million.
Attorneys at the firm also co-represented the Jean family. A Dallas police officer shot and killed Jean in his home in 2018. That case went to trial and, in 2024, a jury awarded Jean’s family more than $98 million in damages.