Top NJ Hospital Kept Newborn Away From Parents, Lawsuit Says

MORRISTOWN, NJ — One of the state’s top hospitals is being accused of keeping a newborn baby from its parents unlawfully, according to a recently filed lawsuit.

Morristown Medical Center is accused by parents Chico Range and Jessica Gonzalez of withholding their newborn baby without a court order.

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On June 5, 2025, Gonzalez was admitted to the Morristown Medical Center and was going into labor. Gonzalez had been told by doctors she was 35 weeks pregnant, but medical records showed the baby was full term, according to the suit.

After the baby, identified only as J.R. in the complaint, was born, Gonzalez and Range were assured that the entire family would be discharged at the same time, the suit says.

Later, however, that changed and Gonzalez was told she would be discharged and J.R. would remain under the hospital’s care, according to court filings.

“No court order, child welfare directive, or law enforcement involvement justified such separation,” the lawsuit reads.

At that point Range tried to take his other children, who were also present, out of the hospital. However, the suit says nursing staff called Range’s behavior “threatening” and accused him of attempting to take J.R. from the medical center as well.

The situation escalated when nursing staff called security guards, who removed Range and barred him from re-entering the hospital or seeing his newborn daughter, according to the lawsuit.

During Gonzalez’s stay at Morristown Medical Center, her visitation with J.R. was “severely restricted to limited daytime hours, despite her postpartum condition and the absence of any safety risk,” the complaint reads.

According to the suit, nursing staff said the limited visitation between the mother and daughter was due to them feeling “threatened,” rather than any court-ordered or law enforcement-oriented reasoning.

Gonzalez and Range filed a complaint with the hospital’s Director of Patient Relations, who chalked the visitation restrictions up to “miscommunications” and acknowledged the “stressful experience” the family endured, the suit says.

The director also confirmed that the restricted parental access was an “internal administrative determination,” according to court filings.

As a result, Gonzalez and Range were “deprived of bonding with their newborn, suffered acute emotional distress, anxiety, humiliation, and ongoing psychological harm,” the suit says.

The family is suing Morristown Medical Center and Atlantic Health Systems for negligence/breach of duty of care, interference of parental rights, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, among other counts.

The parents are seeking compensatory and punitive damages, costs of suit, and restitution.

Patch has reached out to Atlantic Health Systems representatives, who were not immediately available for comment.

Morristown Medical Center is widely regarded as one of the best hospitals in the state and on the East Coast. In June, another lawsuit was filed that said the hospital's error permanently injured a minor who had appendicitis.