By Erik Jones | Lorain Daily | May 13, 2025
LORAIN — The City of Lorain will pay $75,000 to Mercy Health – Lorain to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by the hospital, which alleged the city and county retaliated against the hospital and its doctors for refusing to perform an invasive body cavity search on a detainee.
The lawsuit, filed on December 31, 2024, claimed city and county officials discriminated against the Catholic hospital and interfered with its medical and religious ethics after it declined to comply with police orders to manually remove a suspected foreign object from a man’s rectum. The man, 31-year-old Tony Harris of Lorain, had been taken into custody during a drug investigation in August 2024.
Lorain’s Board of Control, which includes Mayor Jack Bradley and Safety/Service Director Rey Carrion, approved the settlement agreement on Monday. The payment will be covered by the city’s insurance and does not require City Council approval. The settlement will become final once payment is received by Mercy Health and the lawsuit is dismissed in federal court.
“I’m glad that we have a good relationship with our hospital and largest employer in Lorain,” Bradley said following the approval.
According to police reports, Harris was stopped by the Lorain Police Department’s Patrol Impact Team after allegedly leaving a known drug area. Officers reported feeling a “foreign object” near his groin during a pat-down and later observed something near “the entrance of his anus” during a strip search. A body scanner at the Lorain County Jail also indicated the presence of a non-anatomical object.
Police obtained a warrant and took Harris to Mercy Health – Lorain, where a CT scan reportedly confirmed a foreign object. However, hospital staff refused to perform any manual examination or removal, citing medical judgment and religious directives. A second warrant directed at specific doctors also failed to compel compliance. Harris remained in custody during this time and was released from the hospital several days later. No drugs were recovered.
He was charged with tampering with evidence and is scheduled for court appearances on June 6 and June 23.
As part of the settlement, Mercy Health and the Lorain County Prosecutor’s Office agreed on formal guidelines for handling body cavity searches in the future. The new agreement requires a valid search warrant to be directed specifically to Mercy Health and its Chief Medical Officer. It also mandates that the hospital must obtain informed consent from the detainee. Hospital staff are permitted to determine whether a search is medically and ethically appropriate. If a physician objects on ethical or religious grounds, the hospital must document the decision and consult legal counsel. The agreement also specifies that physicians and staff will not be held civilly, criminally, or administratively liable for declining to perform a search based on conscience objections. Law enforcement must first attempt less invasive options like CT scans or observation. Any costs incurred for medical services will be billed to the law enforcement agency requesting the procedure.
Lorain County Prosecutor Tony Cillo declined to comment on the agreement.
The settlement also reinstates Mercy Health – Lorain’s internal police department, which had its authority revoked by Lorain Police Chief Jim McCann in January, shortly after the lawsuit was filed.
Under the new agreement, Mercy’s police force will operate as a full law enforcement agency on hospital grounds. The department will be led by a chief certified by the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy, although the current chief has received a waiver. Mercy police must use Lorain Police’s record system for criminal and arrest reports and conduct full background checks on all officers, sharing hiring and personnel changes with LPD. The city will provide Mercy officers with five L3 Harris radios to ensure emergency communication between departments.
The agreement automatically renews every two years unless canceled or breached. In the event of conflict, a 30-day period is allowed to resolve issues, after which the decision to terminate the agreement lies with the Lorain police chief.
Currently, Deputy Chief Michael Failing is serving as acting head of LPD while Chief McCann is on paid administrative leave pending an unrelated internal investigation. Failing declined to comment on the settlement.
Mercy Health – Lorain also declined to comment until the court officially finalizes the agreement. A previous joint statement from March described the resolution as “fair and mutually satisfactory.” The final agreement must be submitted to U.S. District Judge Philip Calabrese by May 15.