MINNESOTA (LifeSiteNews) — A Filipino American doctor who publicly criticized Black Lives Matter and critical race theory and called COVID the “China virus” can continue her First Amendment lawsuit against her employer.
Dr. Tara Gustilo works for Hennepin Healthcare System in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as an OB/GYN. The Eight Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in her favor in December that she can proceed with a First Amendment retaliation lawsuit, reversing a lower court ruling. The hospital system is run by Hennepin County.
Gustilo chaired the OB/GYN department and “received generally positive performance reviews” according to the ruling’s summary of her case. However, these reviews went downhill in 2020, when Dr. Gustilo said that the violence from the Black Lives Matter movement in connection with the death of George Floyd, a black Minneapolis man, should be called “riots,” not “unrest.”
Beginning in spring 2020, the doctor “made a series of posts” on Facebook “concerning controversial political issues including presidential candidates, fascism, racism, police killings, Black Lives Matter, socialism, and COVID. She used the phrase ‘China virus’ to refer to COVID-19 in one post, which some colleagues considered racist,” according to the court’s ruling. Gustilo herself is Asian.
She also criticized Marxist critical race theory on her personal Facebook page. Gustilo also faced pushback from other doctors after she criticized the idea of defunding the police. Doctors from Hennepin Healthcare System had participated in a rally at the state capitol where one speaker called for defunding the police. Gustilo allowed the doctors to attend but asked them not to display “their affiliation with [the hospital system] while engaging in political activity.” Her colleagues also criticized her for asking them to donate to make up for salary cuts for midwives at the hospital.
The hospital alleges Gustilo reviewed poor reviews, was late for meetings, “did not collaborate,” and was hard to work with. After reviewing materials and voting, the hospital removed her as chair of the department. Gustilo then filed a retaliation claim and racial discrimination claim, saying that she was being punished “because she opposed CRT and held beliefs different from those expected of her as a woman of color.”
The appeals court declined to take up the racial discrimination claims, as the case is being returned to a lower court.
Legal scholar Jonathan Turley said the court made the right decision in allowing Dr. Gustilo’s First Amendment claims to continue.
He also pointed out how Gustilo “had a stellar record, raised black children, and was credited with creating ‘a program to reflect cultural differences in birthing practices to better serve her diverse patients.'”
The Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism called the ruling “a significant victory.” The civil rights group is assisting Gustilo in her battle against the hospital system.
Gustilo did her research and concluded CRT was dangerous
Dr. Gustilo first filed a federal complaint through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2021. In it, she explained how she came to conclude that critical race theory, a Marxist idea, is dangerous and must be opposed.
She said the killing of George Floyd led her to begin researching “police brutality.”
“Having three children considered black by society” and as a “person of color [her]self,” the Harvard-educated doctor wanted to understand the situation better.
She learned CRT promotes a “race essentialist ideology” and requires discrimination.
“I came to believe that CRT is not a continuation of the civil rights movement but rather a repudiation of it,” she wrote.
“Importantly, I reject CRT because it itself rejects the traditional view of equality – the bedrock of our nation – as prescribed in our founding documents and the laws that protect us based on this foundation,” she wrote.
The public hospital system also supports the unscientific and dangerous mutilation of gender-confused adults and children.
Its “Pediatric Gender and Sexual Health Program” caters to “children, adolescents and young adults who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, gender-questioning or gender-nonconforming,” according to the hospital’s “Commitment to Diversity” website section.
The hospital prescribes dangerous puberty blockers and so-called “gender-affirming hormone” injections.
Transgender drugs and surgeries have been linked to bone density loss, infertility, and other major medical issues.