A Christian physician assistant said she was wrongly terminated due to her religious objection to her employer’s transgender policy, finally in court three years after she lost her job.
Valerie Kloosterman worked for 17 years at the Physician Assistant at Metro Health Caledonia, which runs the Countryside Outpatient Clinic (UMHW), which runs at the University of Michigan Health West (UMHW). She was fired in August 2021, allegedly seeking religious accommodation to not be forced to use the patient’s preferred pronoun or refer the patient for transgender surgical procedures and medications.
Law firms first filed a lawsuit against UMHW with Clement and Murphy (PLLC), accusing the health system of violating Cruderman’s First and Fourteenth Amendment rights to free religion, freedom of speech and equal protection; and violated Chapter 7 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, when she was fired.
Michigan lawyers James Wieranga and David J. Williams also filed lawsuits on behalf of Kloosterman.
After years of legal delays, her attorney was able to file an oral debate on February 6 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Christian physician assistant sued Michigan Health for being fired after opposing trans procedure
The University of Michigan Health Western System, which is said to be a new transgender policy seeking religious accommodation, fired physician assistant Valerie Kloosterman. (via Getty/First Liberty iStock)
Kloosterman told Fox News Digital that shortly before she terminated from UMHW, she was asked to complete a diversity training module, asking her to confirm statements about sexual orientation and gender identity, which was contrary to her Christian belief.
“Two of these questions specifically say that gender is fluent. I can’t say, ‘No, I don’t believe that, as we make in the image of God, this is something God designed for us. It’s not what we were born at Being assigned. But I can’t say, “No. “This won’t let me complete the mandatory investigation, they have said that if you don’t fill in it, you will be terminated. ”
Clusterman said that during her 17 years of practice, she treated LGBT patients the same as any other patient, without any conflict. She said she had never encountered a situation where she was forced to use pronouns that the patient chose.
Several meetings followed when she sought religious exemptions for HR due to hypothetical circumstances. In the last meeting before the dismissal, Crusterman claimed that her religious beliefs about Umhw’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) program coordinator were criticized.
“This meeting became hostile. This person called me a liar and said I saw patients in the LGBT community, no problems, no doubt about them. He said I was ‘evil’ a gender-changing surgery,” she said.
The doctor said
According to the First Statue of Liberty, DEI officials of the Michigan health care system told a Christian physician assistant that her religious opponents refer to patients’ religious opposition through their preferred pronoun, which leads to suicide. (AP Photo/John Hannah)
The lawsuit alleges that the same DEI official also laughed at her beliefs and told her that she would commit suicide by not affirming its pronoun.
Clusterman said the leader told her that the conversation would continue at another time. But a month later, she was suddenly called to the office and fired on the spot.
“I didn’t have a chance to close the charts. I didn’t have a chance to tell my patients. I wasn’t even allowed to go back to the office to get my personal belongings,” she told Fox News Digital.
Clusterman said she left the office because her employer would fire her because of her religious objection to the hypothetical situation.
She also felt heartbroken for the patients she had established a long-term relationship with, for why she suddenly was no longer their provider.
Doctors say the persecutor slams trans “pseudoscience” to solve her mental distress: “It’s quackery’
Valerie Kloosterman said she was suddenly fired and had no job after seeking religious residence for her employer’s transgender policy. (iStock)
“I thought of a few patients and I thought ‘I have a diagnosis I need to tell them’…I promise I’ll call them back. I can’t. She doesn’t know how to help them…You have a lot of things in your mind.
Clusterman said that while the ordeal had tested her faith, it also opened up conversations with the sons about what it means to trust God during difficult times.
“This is not my fight or journey, right?” she said of her conversation with her family. “It’s about God, glorifying God, loyalty and honesty, knowing that I need to do it at every step. If it’s exciting, if it’s hard, if it means losing a job, I have to do it. Yes A Christian, I wear someone who glorifies God every day.”
The lawsuit states that Crewsterman was a “model” employee who never received discipline until she was fired. According to court documents, she enjoys a “excellent” reputation among patients and is “happy to” patients with different beliefs and backgrounds, including those identified as lesbian, gay or gender irritable.
Kloosterman filed a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and sued after the health system allegedly refused its request to restore Kloosterman.
Valerie Kloosterman said she was “heartbroken” and she could not explain to patients why she could never be their provider again. (iStock)
They are seeking monetary losses, fair relief, and asking Kloosterman to restore to UMHW to accommodate issues of trans pronouns and surgical referrals.
UMHW did not respond to a request for comment.
UMHW told Fox News Digital in a previous statement regarding the lawsuit: “University of Michigan Health-West is committed to providing appropriate medical treatment for all patients and respecting the religious beliefs of their employees. We are confident about Ms. Kloosterman’s claims, such as those she An application was filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which was unfounded.”
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The healthcare system has DEI values on its website and says it is recognized for its commitment to LGBTQ patients.
Its website says: “UM Health-West is the highest-scoring system in the Grand Rapids area and has won the name as a high performer of LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality Equality.”
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in his first few days of his tenure to limit the “chemical and surgical” sexual change procedures for minors.
Several children’s hospitals and clinics across the country have ignored the order and vowed to continue providing trans-sex medical treatment to patients.
Fox News’s Jon Brown contributed to this post.
