Graphic photos and videos of corpses floating around on social media are bound to send chills down the spine.
Quantaise Sharpton, a New York morgue attendant, was fired from Northwell Health after sharing “graphic and disturbing” autopsy photos and videos to her Instagram and TikTok accounts.
The medical center filed a lawsuit after she continued sharing on social media following her job termination. The lawsuit requests a judge to “issue a preliminary injunction demanding Sharpton to permanently delete the photos and videos and also seeks undetermined damages.”
The lawsuit was filed in Nassau County Supreme Court and according to court documents, the images and videos included “bodies with electrical burns, amputated body parts, internal organs and even a late stillbirth.”
Sharpton, who calls herself “#autopsybae” on Instagram and TikTok, has breached confidentiality issues with her trending social media posts that were a form of mockery. Her videos with the graphic material were seen with dance music and she ridiculed the smell and state of the cadavers.
“As a morgue attendant, Sharpton assumed a position of the utmost trust and confidence with Northwell,” the suit states. “Sharpton took advantage of the trust given to her by Northwell for her own personal gain. Indeed, Sharpton’s posting of pictures and videos from the LIJMC morgue onto her social media platforms marks a gross deviation from the level of care and loyalty expected as Northwell’s employee.”
Northwell requested Sharpton to remove the content but she refuses to do so. “Sharpton explained that she is a social media influencer and that she receives monthly revenue based on her posts, and that she viewed her morgue and autopsy photos and videos as social media ‘content,'” Vartges Saroyan, Northwell’s compliance program director and privacy officer, stated. “Sharpton expressed no remorse or regret for her conduct.”
Northwell stated that shortly after her termination, she reposted the deleted images and videos. She even went a step future by posting new content that was previously not shared.
“Northwell Health strives to provide the highest level of care to its patients, patients’ families and communities. As this matter is in active litigation, we refrain from commenting regarding this matter,” Northwell said in a statement.