by Scott McClallen
A physician assistant who claims she was fired after seeking a religious exemption from referring patients for transgender care and using their preferred personal pronouns has filed a federal lawsuit against the University of Michigan Health-West.
In September, The Center Square reported Valerie Kloosterman’s claims that diversity program director Thomas Pierce called her “evil” and blamed her for gender dysphoria-related suicides after she cited her Christian faith as a reason to avoid specific procedures.
She was fired on Aug 24, 2021.
“Because Valerie wouldn’t violate her conscience, Michigan Health violated her rights and ended her employment,” First Liberty Institute Counsel Kayla Toney said in a statement. “It is blatantly intolerant of Michigan Health to demand that medical professionals like Valerie abandon their religious beliefs in order to remain employed. Valerie loves her community and her job. She is devastated that the University of Michigan health system derided her beliefs and demanded that she choose between her faith and providing health care.”
Kloosterman worked for the hospital for 17 years until the summer 2021, when the group enacted mandatory “diversity and inclusion” training. Kloosterman asked for a religious accommodation because she couldn’t affirm statements about gender that violated her Christian beliefs.
The lawsuit claims the hospital denied Kloosterman’s religious accommodation but provided accommodations for others, such as a male doctor who wished to abstain from performing pelvic exams of female patients and those who objected to prescribing opioids or diet pills.
“The hospital officials’ explicit attack on her religious beliefs provides direct evidence that her termination was the result of unlawful religious discrimination,” the lawsuit says.
Peter VanLaan, associate general counsel for the health system, told The Center Square: “University of Michigan Health-West is committed to providing appropriate medical treatment to all patients and respects the religious beliefs of its employees. Our organization does not discuss personnel issues and as such, has no further comment.”
The lawsuit says the hospital violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in rejecting the religious accommodation and then firing her.
“Defendants targeted Ms. Kloosterman for termination because she requested an accommodation for her religious beliefs,” the lawsuit says. “Defendants also violated the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment, as incorporated against the states via the Fourteenth Amendment, when they granted secular accommodations to other employees regarding common drugs and medical procedures while failing to grant a religious accommodation to Ms. Kloosterman regarding much more rare drugs and medical procedures.”
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Scott McClallen is a staff writer covering Michigan and Minnesota for The Center Square. A graduate of Hillsdale College, his work has appeared on Forbes.com and FEE.org. Previously, he worked as a financial analyst at Pepsi.
Photo “University of Michigan Health-West” by University of Michigan Health-West.
