Man, whose wife died following a routine C-section after giving birth to a baby boy at a renowned hospital, is claiming in a lawsuit that racism played a part in what happened. Despite signs she was bleeding internally and the desperate pleas of her husband, the 39-year-old mother deteriorated for hours without being readmitted to the operating room until it was too late, the lawsuit states. The husband also said that one of the nurses reportedly told him that his wife wasn’t a priority. One of the doctors that work at the hospital reprotedly said that she lives with structural racism every day and it prevents Black patients from receiving the same care as whites.

The man from California, Charles Johnson, has filed the lawsuit on Wednesday. His is now suing Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, claiming his wife died hours after childbirth in 2016 because of a culture of racism at the renowned hospital. “My wife would be here with her boys if it wasn’t for the color of her skin,” Charles Johnson said. 

Charles Johnson told ABC News: “There’s no doubt in my mind that my wife would be here today and be here Sunday celebrating Mother’s Day with her boys if she was a Caucasian woman. The reality is that on April 12, 2016, when we walked into Cedars-Sinai hospital for what we expected to be the happiest day of our lives, the greatest risk factor that Kira Dixon Johnson faced was racism.”

According to Johnson, his wife reportedly died about 12 hours after having a scheduled cesarean section that was performed in 17 minutes to deliver the couple’s second son. The boy was later named Langston.

Nicholas Rowley, Johnson’s attorney, reportedly said: “This is sloppy. It shocked everybody that we deposed, all the health care providers, even the head of (obstetrics) here, the head of labor and delivery, looked at it and said ‘No, I’ve never seen one done that fast.”’

According to the NPR, despite the signs that the woman was bleeding internally, the young woman deteriorated for hours. She was reportedly readmitted to the operating room when it was too late, the lawsuit states.

The husband also said that one of the nurses reportedly told him that his wife wasn’t a priority.

The family’s attorney also said that the young mother died from internal bleeding. Approximately 90% of her blood was later found in her stomach, the lawsuit states. Her bladder had been lacerated and she hadn’t been sutured properly.

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center released the following statement: “We are actively working to eradicate unconscious bias in health care and advance equity in health care more broadly. We commend Mr. Johnson for the attention he has brought to the important issue of racial disparities in maternal outcomes.”

The case is scheduled to go to trial May 11. The lawsuit is also seeking an injunction that would require the hospital to make changes to protect mothers and women of color.

According to the court document, the obstetrician and gynecologist at the hospital, Dr. Kimberly Gregory, said that Kira should have gone back to the operating room sooner.

Dr. Gregory also said that she lives with structural racism every day and it prevents Black patients from receiving the same care as whites.

The surgical technologist, Angelique Washington, told ABC News that the patient safety was out the door when Kira came into the operating room. She also said that she routinely witnessed different treatment of Black women but was afraid to speak up.

Angelique Washington reportedly said: “When I see my Black … patients come in, I say an extra prayer. I say a silent prayer that all goes well. Because you do have racism very much so in the operating room.”

The family’s attorney, Nicholas Rowley, told FOX8 News: “Kira died because she’s Black. Women of color don’t get the same treatment as white women. That’s a fact.”