Fired for Faith: Health Worker Fights to Protect Religious Objections in Workplace

"Evil" and "liar."

Those are the words University of Michigan Health-West officials allegedly used to describe Valerie Kloosterman when they fired her for refusing to compromise her Christian beliefs.

Kloosterman dedicated 17 years of her life and career to the Wyoming, Michigan, hospital as a physician assistant. The third generation of her family to work there, she had always felt appreciated and respected by her colleagues—that is, until the rebrand.

In June 2021, the hospital—formerly known as Metropolitan Hospital—completed its transition to the University of Michigan Health System, and with that came some changes.

Those changes included a new diversity training that required employees to affirm statements that contradicted Kloosterman's religious beliefs.

"She had to affirm that gender is fluid, for example—and the only way to progress to the next question was to hit 'Yes,' because 'No' was the wrong answer," First Liberty Institute counsel Kayla Toney, one of Kloosterman's attorneys, told Restoration News.

The training also required Kloosterman to pledge to use biologically inaccurate pronouns for patients who preferred them and to make referrals for gender transition procedures.

Unable to complete the exercise without violating her own conscience, Kloosterman requested a religious accommodation, "which is a well-established right that employees have," Toney noted.

That's when things unraveled, spurring a years-long legal battle and now, a federal investigation.

Through it all, Kloosterman has remained steadfast in her determination to defend the religious and conscience rights of medical professionals.

"She does not want this to ever happen to anyone else," Toney said.

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Exclusive Inclusivity

Kloosterman's August 2021 firing followed a meeting with the hospital's "diversity, equity and inclusion" team.

"They were the ones who really took this much further than it ever needed to go," Toney said.

In addition to insulting her character, hospital officials allegedly told Kloosterman that she couldn't bring her faith with her to work, suggesting that she would contribute to gender-dysphoria-related suicide rates because of her beliefs.

Less than a month after that meeting, she was fired.

Three generations of Valerie's family worked for the same hospital system. But when new management took over, she was FIRED for her faith. Hear more of Valerie's story: https://t.co/lsUN8AJwf2 pic.twitter.com/KEOcOxRzD3

— First Liberty Institute (@1stLiberty) October 17, 2024

Evidently, University of Michigan Health-West's brand of "diversity" and "inclusion" doesn't extend to including Bible-believing Christians.

Toney noted that the hospital has provided secular accommodations in the past, making the refusal in Kloosterman's case all the more discriminatory.

"In her own clinic, there were other providers who weren't comfortable prescribing opioids, for example," Toney said. "If a patient wanted opioids, they would just simply schedule them with a provider who might be comfortable providing that."

She also cited the case of a male doctor who was uncomfortable examining female patients. To accommodate his needs, the hospital would schedule all female patients with a female doctor.

"If other providers can be accommodated so that the patients still receive what they're seeking, but no one's beliefs or conscience is violated in the process, then Valerie's beliefs should have been accommodated as well," she said.

Fighting for Freedom

As a nonprofit law firm that focuses on religious liberty cases, First Liberty Institute was proud to take on Kloosterman's case.

"It's an honor to represent people like Valerie," Toney said. "Courageous clients are the reason that we're able to bring these cases, and we're so grateful for her courage and her perseverance."

The group filed a federal lawsuit in the Western District of Michigan in October 2022 accusing University of Michigan Health-West of violating Kloosterman's constitutional rights to free speech, free exercise of religion, and equal protection, among other laws.

The complaint seeks her reinstatement to her job and to bar the hospital from taking similar actions against employees in the future.

After District Judge Jane Beckering ruled that most of Kloosterman's claims could move forward, the hospital sought to move the case to arbitration. Beckering granted that request.

"That's the issue that we're up on now at the Sixth Circuit [Court of Appeals]," Toney said. "The issue is whether the hospital waived its ability to go to arbitration when they chose to fight us in court for a year first."

A panel of judges heard oral arguments on the matter in February. A ruling has yet to be issued, but Toney said Kloosterman's legal team feels optimistic.

"The judges were definitely paying close attention to the issues of waiver and forfeiture, and so we do think it's likely that they will focus on those issues," she said. "And we're hopeful. We'll see how they come down."

Potential Civil Rights Violations

In the meantime, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has launched an inquiry into the University of Michigan Health System in response to Kloosterman's case.

OCR facilitates the department's enforcement of federal laws that protect health workers' conscience rights and religious freedoms. The office's investigation will determine whether the health system is compliant with a collection of conscience protection laws known as the Church Amendments.

“OCR is committed to enforcing federal conscience laws in health care,” OCR Director Paula M. Stannard said in announcing the probe on June 20.

“Healthcare workers should be able to practice both their professions and their faith.”

Toney said she and the rest of Kloosterman's team were heartened to see the agency stepping in to enforce the law.

"We're encouraged to learn that HHS is taking a position that the Church Amendments do protect healthcare providers like Valerie. We think that's right," Toney said.

"There's not a private right of action under the Church Amendments, and so it really does take an agency like HHS to start taking its responsibility [to enforce them] seriously, and we're encouraged that they're now doing that."

The investigation marks the third launched under the second term of the Trump administration to ensure compliance with federal laws protecting medical professionals' conscience rights.

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