BRIDGEPORT -- A former Greenwich Hospital phlebotomist testified Tuesday she was pressured to resign after she discovered contaminated blood vials in the hospital.

"They (supervisors) would be yelling at me constantly to the point where I couldn't take it anymore," Isabel Modaffari told a state Superior Court jury. "I didn't feel patients were safe anymore."

The 44-year-old Bridgeport woman, who worked at Greenwich Hospital for six years, is suing the hospital, claiming officials forced her to quit in January 2012 after Modaffari talked to the FBI about contaminated vials she said she discovered. Testimony began Tuesday morning before Judge Edward Stodolink.

Under questioning by her lawyer, John Bochanis, Modaffari said that on May 29, 2011, she had just drawn blood from a female patient in the intensive care ward when she noticed the blood appeared pink in the vial.

Modaffari said when she checked her other unused vial, each contained a clear liquid. She said a co-worker also complained of having vials containing an unknown clear liquid.

"I was so shaken I could barely do my work the rest of the day," she said.

Modaffari said she put her vials in a hazardous materials bag and was going to take them to the Greenwich police, but was stopped by a supervisor who took the vials.

On June 3, 2011, Modaffari was interviewed by two FBI agents about the incident, but right afterward, she said a hospital vice president confronted her and warned her not to tell the agents anything.

During the next several months, Modaffari said she was constantly being called into the hospital administrator's office. At one point, she said she was handed a blank piece of paper and ordered to sign it.

In his opening argument to the jury, the hospital's lawyer, David Poppick, characterized Modaffari as a disgruntled employee who had poor performance reports and was having difficulty adapting to the hospital's new technology. He said when Modaffari quit, she told a supervisor she had to take care of her sick mother.

Poppick also downplayed the dangers of the contaminated vials, pointing out that while bacteria was found in one, it was being used to draw blood rather than inject it. He said when the situation was thoroughly investigated by the FBI and Food and Drug Administration, no problems were found.

"There was no monkey business at Greenwich Hospital," he told the jurors.

Testimony is to continue Wednesday.; 203-330-6308;