GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A former University of Michigan Health-West (UMH-West) employee says she was fired for no reason other than her religious beliefs.
Attorneys representing Valerie Kloosterman filed a lawsuit in federal court on Tuesday.
It alleges the health system violated her first and fourteenth amendment rights, as well as her rights under the Michigan constitution.
Kloosterman was a physician’s assistant, who had worked at Metro Health Caledonia since 2004.
According to the lawsuit, she was fired in August 2021 after UMH-West required her to go through diversity and inclusion training, which contained a requirement to affirm statements related to sexual orientation and gender identity.
Kloosterman expressed that her Christian faith, as well as her opinions as a medical professional, prevented her from agreeing to that, so she asked for a religious accommodation.
After a meeting with the health system, she was terminated.
“I can’t compromise that,” said Kloosterman. “It’s not something that I can say, ‘Well, that’s fine in my day to day life, I don’t have to believe that or I don’t have to abide by what the world says just simply because I step into the doors of the University of Michigan.’”
The lawsuit says during Kloosterman’s career, she had served patients from all backgrounds without issue, including people in the LGBTQ+ community.
It claims there’s a history of non-religious accommodations at the clinic, and Kloosterman also offered to only say a person’s name during appointments or refer to them as “patient” in paperwork as a possible solution.
“No one ever asked for a referral for sex altering drugs or procedures,” said Kayla Toney, Kloosterman’s attorney. “This was all hypothetical, but when Valerie spoke up about her religious beliefs and told the University of Michigan that she just couldn’t violate her conscious by participating in these types of referrals for sex altering drugs and procedures, they attacked her religious beliefs.”
The lawsuit includes a notice from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
It says the office declined to proceed with its investigation into a claim Kloosterman filed, although it notes that did not make make any determination about whether further inquiries would establish any violations of the statute.
UMH-West declined an interview, but sent a statement to FOX 17.
“University of Michigan Health-West hasn’t seen a lawsuit from Ms. Kloosterman and cannot comment on claims that haven’t been formally made,” said a UMH-West spokesperson. “However, if they are similar to her claims filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, they will also be without merit.”
The full lawsuit, can be read below:
