A B.C. nurse accused of making "discriminatory and derogatory" statements on social media about transgender people is being suspended and ordered to pay almost $94,000 to the B.C. College of Nurses and Midwives.
Amy Hamm is accused of making these statements across various online platforms from July 2018 to March 2021 in podcasts, videos, published writings and social media, while identifying herself as a nurse or nurse educator.
The decision was made on Aug. 14 by a college disciplinary panel, and the money is an award of costs to the college. Hamm will have two years to pay, pending an appeal she filed in March to the B.C. Supreme Court.
She is alleged to have made comments online and to have sponsored a billboard in Vancouver supporting Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, who was under fire for comments about women's rights that some people deemed transphobic.
The panel reviewed many social media posts, which ranged in content from Hamm questioning COVID-19 language guides for how health care professionals should refer to trans people, to her referring to trans people as "penis people" and suggesting their gender identification is a fetish.
The disciplinary panel writes in a 115-page decision that her comments constitute unprofessional conduct, violating college bylaws and the Health Professions Act.
The panel justified the one-month suspension, which is the second-harshest punishment available after cancellation of registration.
"It is unacceptable to use a professional nursing designation in conjunction with the public expression of discriminatory and derogatory statements targeting vulnerable and marginalized members of a community as such statements risks that members of that community will lose trust in the health care system and may be reluctant or unwilling to seek health care," the panel found.
Hamm's lawyer, Lisa Bildy, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. A news release from the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms quoted her saying that the panel made "legal and factual errors" in its decision.
鈥淭his decision effectively penalizes a nurse for expressing mainstream views aligned with science and common sense,鈥� Bildy said. 鈥淭he panel鈥檚 ruling imposes a chilling effect on free expression for all regulated professionals.鈥�
