Victory for Fired Christian Physician’s Assistant Who Wanted Nothing to Do with ‘Trans’ Care

Valerie Kloosterman was a physician’s assistant at University of Michigan Health — West in 2021 when she asked for a religious accommodation from referring patients to or participating in “transgender” procedures, including puberty blockers and genital mutilation.

According to First Liberty Institute, Thomas Pierce, who was the DEI director at Michigan Health at the time (now called the regional director of Community Health Advancement & Patient Experience), said that Kloosterman was evil and blamed her for “transgender” suicides.

After the hospital fired her, Kloosterman filed a lawsuit. The U.S. Court of Appeals of the Sixth Circuit heard arguments in February.

After Michigan Health realized the extent of their actions, they tried to switch to arbitration. But Kloosterman wants a trail.

First Liberty announced on Wednesday that the Sixth Circuit ruled in Kloosterman’s favor. An excerpt (emphasis added):

The Sixth Circuit held that “this request came too late,” and that “defendants may not play ‘heads I win, tails you lose’ by keeping arbitration in reserve just in case.” This ruling strengthens the legal protections for employees whose constitutional rights are at stake.

The University of Michigan also recently announced that it has ended gender-transition treatments for minors under the age of 19.

“It was intolerant of University of Michigan Health to fire Valerie because of her religious beliefs, and now the Sixth Circuit has recognized that they cannot avoid accountability by hiding the case in arbitration,” said Kayla Toney, an attorney at First Liberty.

Photo credit: First Liberty Institute

Do you like this post? Sign up for more!