Lakeland Regional Health nurse fired for making racist post

LAKELAND - A nurse at Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center was fired Monday after a racist social media post went viral.

The Snapchat post by Alexandra Suchocki, 24, of Lakeland, showed a picture of her with the n-word written across her forehead. The post mentions her husband, James Peach, who is training in the corrections academy at Polk State College's Kenneth C. Thompson Institute of Public Safety on a scholarship from the Polk County Sheriff's Office.

Her post apparently occurred after Peach asked her what was for dinner. It read: James: What are you making for dinner?

Me: I just cleaned the whole house. Does it look like I have the word — written across my forehead?

*James holds me down and writes — across my forehead*

In a news release, Lakeland Regional spokeswoman Jennifer Audette said hospital officials learned Sunday that a racist post was made by an employee.

Audette wrote that the employee was no longer working at LRMC. The news release from LRH did not state Suchocki's name or any details about where the employee worked in the hospital. Audette did not return a phone message or email to answer additional questions about the incident.

“As of today, October 22, this individual is no longer employed by Lakeland Regional Health,” the release stated.

There was no record of a Facebook account for Suchocki. A woman, who said she did not know Suchocki, shared the picture of her with the n-word written across her forehead. The woman described Suchocki as a Lakeland Regional nurse in the intensive care unit.

The post from the woman's account went viral and has been shared more than 2,000 times.

During an inquiry by Sheriff's Office, Suchocki told a sergeant that Peach was outside with his dogs when she made the Snapchat post.

Peach told staff at the Academy he learned about the photo only after it was posted and did not find it funny. He denied any involvement, said Scott Wilder, a spokesman with the Sheriff's Office.

“We have seen the post that is on Facebook and we find it reprehensible,” Wilder said. “Had the Sheriff's Office discovered that James Peach was involved with what was described in the post, his scholarship would have been terminated and he would not have been eligible for employment with the Sheriff's Office.”

Peach is in the dual academy at the Institute, and if he graduates from the corrections academy, he will go into the law enforcement academy and be eligible for hire, Wilder said.