A lawsuit has been filed against Northern Health, claiming wrongful dismissal.
Amy Blanding, the former Director of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility for seven years, claims Northern Health removed her from her position because she refused to apologize for expressing support for Palestinian human rights in her personal time.
She filed the lawsuit in Vancouver this morning (Wednesday), as well as a defamation lawsuit against community members who she says accused her of supporting terrorism.
“I’m here today to challenge the utter lack of process exhibited by the Northern Health Authority, the threat to my fundamental rights and freedoms, and to raise issue with the wider suppression of the pro-Palestinian support we are seeing across the province and the country,” Blanding said in a news conference in front of the Vancouver Courthouse.
Blanding said that on April 6, she played a community concert in which she sang “a song she wrote about longing for peace and freedom in Palestine.”
“Following the event I made a post on Instagram, referencing statistics corroborated by the International Court of Justice, United Nations and others, concerning civilian deaths in Gaza, and criticizing the use of starvation as a tool of war,” she said.
“These events occurred outside of work, and on my personal time. I am a leader in my community, I am not anti-Semitic, I fundamentally support the rights for all people, Jewish and Palestinian included, to live lives free from oppression.”
Blanding alleges that on April 24, an “extremely defamatory letter” was sent to Northern Health by members of the Prince George community.
“It was factually incorrect, hate-filled, and deeply troubling,” she said.
“After receiving the complaint, Northern Health did not give me the opportunity to respond to the allegations. On May 10th, I was called into a meeting with David Williams, Vice-President, Human Resources at Northern Health, under the assumption that it was in follow up to my safety concerns I had expressed about the letter. Instead, David Williams demanded that I publish a pre-drafted statement on my personal social media, stating that my actions had negatively impacted community members and caused them to feel less safe accessing healthcare services, specifically the Jewish community. The statement went against my political and ethical beliefs.”
Blanding said she had asked for time to consider the demand, but it was denied and she was removed from her position.
“I am the primary breadwinner in my family, I have a disability that costs between $200 and $500 a month in medical supplies, the financial repercussions of my removal, and the implications on my career are significant,” she continued.
“The unfounded accusations of discrimination against me, ongoing harassment and messages of hate I continue to receive, and the wider implications of what this means in the fight for justice, have deeply impacted my mental and physical health.”
These allegations have not been tested in court.
In an email, Northern Health said they “cannot comment as this is a human resource matter before the courts.”
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