Twin Cities nurse stripped of license, sued for sexual relationship with paraplegic client

A nurse enticed her paraplegic client into an emotionally manipulative sexual relationship for many months while caring for him in his parents’ Twin Cities home, according to a lawsuit and the findings of a state investigation that led to her losing her license.

The personal injury lawsuit filed in Dakota County District Court names as defendants Allina Home Health Inc., and 28-year-old Kelsey Christine Fulweiler, who her accusers say abused her position of authority while sexually exploiting the 44-year-old man for many months until the summer of July 2023.

In a statement to the Minnesota Star Tribune on Friday, Allina said that when it “was made aware of the specific allegations in the complaint, the employee was terminated and reported to all appropriate agencies. We do not defend the actions of this former employee; however, we strongly dispute the lawsuit’s characterization of Allina Health’s conduct.”

Fulweiler’s attorney declined to comment about the lawsuit. Messages were left with her Friday seeking a response to the suit and the state investigations.

Fulweiler, of Woodbury, began her romantic pursuit of her client with a text and then kissed him the next day before it “quickly went from kissing and fondling to dozens of instances of sex” in various forms but did not include intercourse given the man’s health challenges, according to the suit.

The suit says the nurse took selfies “in various forms of undress and gave them” to her client, who is named as a plaintiff in the suit but, the Star Tribune is not identifying by name, given the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) determining that he was a victim of sexual exploitation.

Fulweiler and the man exchanged hundreds of romantic texts, and she wrote notes to him “promising that the two would spend their lives together,” the suit read.

That pledge, however, evaporated in July 2023 when Fulweiler ended the relationship, the suit continued, leaving the man “utterly shattered by defendant Fulweiler’s betrayal.”

Separate investigations by the MDH and the state’s Board of Nursing led to disciplinary action in connection with Fulweiler’s personal interactions with the man, who became a paraplegic when he was injured while a passenger in a single-vehicle crash as an 18-year-old.

The MDH initially investigated the allegations and gave Fulweiler a warning, but the agency revisited the case after learning of the suit and concluded that she “coerced, compelled and manipulated the client into a sexual relationship” by engaging in various sex acts with him, according to its public report released in October.

The agency also cited Allina Home Health for what it called “facility noncompliance” with federal regulations. In response, according to the MDH report: Allina fired Fulweiler, updated applicable policies and “retrained staff on professional boundaries and vulnerable adult maltreatment and reporting.”

In a written response to the suit, Fulweiler told the court that she “denies each and every allegation, matter, statement and thing contained in the complaint” other than she and the man exchanged texts and other correspondence while he was under her care.

However, according to the MDH investigation, Fulweiler acknowledged exchanging romantic texts with him but declined to answer questions from the agency about any sex between the two of them.

“If Kelsey Fulweiler did nothing wrong, why did the Minnesota Department of Health determine that she ‘abused [our] client’ as well as ‘coerced, compelled, and enticed [him] into a sexual relationship,’ ” said the West St. Paul man’s attorney, Paul Applebaum, whose case returns to court next week for another in a long series of hearings.

The Nursing Board, which is in charge of licensing and acting on complaints, and Fulweiler filed an agreement in October for her to surrender her license for at least two years for what it called “unprofessional conduct with a patient.”

Specifically, the suit accuses Fulweiler of sexual assault, medical malpractice and inflicting emotional distress.

The suit holds Allina liable for Fulweiler’s actions and negligent for failing to protect the man from harm, noting that its home health care staff “were aware or should have been aware that ... Fulweiler was a predator capable of preying on a vulnerable patient.”

The suit seeks at least $300,000 in relief for the man, but Applebaum said there is no specific dollar amount being sought at this time.