Pushback: Blacklisted doctor gets lawsuit reinstated by higher court
The kind of policies advocated by Hennepin Healthcare system
that Gustilo criticized
Fight! Fight! Fight! Back in August 2021, I reported the horrible blacklisting of Tara Gustilo, a biracial physician from the Philippines, who had been demoted and experienced a $150K cut in salary at the Hennepin Healthcare system in Minnesota simply because she had posted criticisms of the racist Black Lives Matter movement as well as the critical race theory policies, now known as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), that Hennepin was pushing.
In addition to filing a discrimination complaint with the federal government, Gustilo sued, represented by the Minnesota-based Upper Midwest Law Center (UMLC). You can read her lawsuit here [pdf].
That lawsuit however had been dismissed by a lower court. Last week however the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals threw out that decision, reinstating the lawsuit.
The court’s decision can be read here. The court specifically noted that Gustilo’s right to free speech appeared to have been violated, and that fact must be considered by a jury.
The facts of the case seem to me pretty clear. Before she expressed her opinions about BLM and critical race theory, Gustilo had routinely gotten positive job reviews. Moreover, because she was biracial, she had been celebrated as an example of Hennepin’s dedication to promoting diversity. Once she spoke out, however, the company immediately moved to take away her position as chair of one department while cutting her pay, explicitly telling her that it did so because of her opinions. That action was further prompted by a wave of anger and madness among some fellow employees, whom during this time of panic had somehow lost the ability to tolerate other opinions.
What made the action even more personally galling was that the person chosen to replace her at the department asked her for advice on how to run the department, specifically because of her “continued high performance and patient satisfaction.”
Like almost all the blacklisting cases from 2020 to 2024 — all instigated by the madness of power that came after the COVID lockdowns — Gustilo’s case is steadily working its way through the courts towards a victory. During that panic, too many Americans on the left became addicted to the uncontrolled power they had obtained, and as a mob began to use it in many illegal and immoral ways to destroy those the mob did not like. That mob action however was illegal and immoral, and with time it is going to cost the mob a lot of money and time. Justice will not be done in every case, but it will be done enough times to hopefully dissuade the power-hungry from nonchalantly attempting to do it again.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
The kind of policies advocated by Hennepin Healthcare system
that Gustilo criticized
Fight! Fight! Fight! Back in August 2021, I reported the horrible blacklisting of Tara Gustilo, a biracial physician from the Philippines, who had been demoted and experienced a $150K cut in salary at the Hennepin Healthcare system in Minnesota simply because she had posted criticisms of the racist Black Lives Matter movement as well as the critical race theory policies, now known as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), that Hennepin was pushing.
In addition to filing a discrimination complaint with the federal government, Gustilo sued, represented by the Minnesota-based Upper Midwest Law Center (UMLC). You can read her lawsuit here [pdf].
That lawsuit however had been dismissed by a lower court. Last week however the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals threw out that decision, reinstating the lawsuit.
The court’s decision can be read here. The court specifically noted that Gustilo’s right to free speech appeared to have been violated, and that fact must be considered by a jury.
The facts of the case seem to me pretty clear. Before she expressed her opinions about BLM and critical race theory, Gustilo had routinely gotten positive job reviews. Moreover, because she was biracial, she had been celebrated as an example of Hennepin’s dedication to promoting diversity. Once she spoke out, however, the company immediately moved to take away her position as chair of one department while cutting her pay, explicitly telling her that it did so because of her opinions. That action was further prompted by a wave of anger and madness among some fellow employees, whom during this time of panic had somehow lost the ability to tolerate other opinions.
What made the action even more personally galling was that the person chosen to replace her at the department asked her for advice on how to run the department, specifically because of her “continued high performance and patient satisfaction.”
Like almost all the blacklisting cases from 2020 to 2024 — all instigated by the madness of power that came after the COVID lockdowns — Gustilo’s case is steadily working its way through the courts towards a victory. During that panic, too many Americans on the left became addicted to the uncontrolled power they had obtained, and as a mob began to use it in many illegal and immoral ways to destroy those the mob did not like. That mob action however was illegal and immoral, and with time it is going to cost the mob a lot of money and time. Justice will not be done in every case, but it will be done enough times to hopefully dissuade the power-hungry from nonchalantly attempting to do it again.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
“During that panic, too many Americans on the left became addicted to the uncontrolled power they had obtained, and as a mob began to use it in many illegal and immoral ways to destroy those the mob did not like. That mob action however was illegal and immoral, and with time it is going to cost the mob a lot of money and time. Justice will not be done in every case, but it will be done enough times to hopefully dissuade the power-hungry from nonchalantly attempting to do it again.”
I seriously doubt this. I think the Left will work harder to infect the Justice system with like-minded judges who’ll either let the Left plaintiffs suits go forward or strike down suits against Leftist defendants.
The only way for injustices like this to be prevented is through a serious, major, and public culling of those institutions that have been infected with the belief that they can illegally, and unconstitutionally harm others because they do not conform to your groupthink. Medical, educational, LE, and judicial institutions should be at the top of the chopping block.