A nurse is suing Alberta Health Services (AHS) for firing her after she publicly criticised AHS' handling of patient care during the pandemic and its treatment of unvaccinated patients and staff.
Debra Carritt says she first went through official channels with her concerns, from her direct manager up through to the province’s health minister. When that failed, she went to the media.
Staff openly said in front of patients, for example, that they should be made to pay for their treatment if they are unvaccinated or be “denied treatment up to and including death,” the claim says. This violated the ethical medical principle of equal care for all, it says.
Carritt says the AHS staff COVID-vaccination policy, which went into effect September 2021, caused staff shortages, something she had warned AHS about. She said AHS disregarded valid vaccine accommodation requests, such as requests by pregnant and breastfeeding staff worried about the novel nature of the vaccine.
The statement of claim says Carritt’s warnings proved valid when a staff shortage led AHS to modify its vaccination policy in December 2021 to allow for targeted virus testing as an alternative to vaccination.
She made suggestions on how to resolve bed shortages and other matters of operation at AHS to better treat patients. She said these matters were not resolved and it affected the level of care patients received.
AHS Monopoly
The claim outlines Carritt’s almost 30-year career in health care, which she began as a paramedic. She upgraded her training multiple times, entering AHS employment as a registered nurse in 2012. She completed a Master’s in Nursing program last year.“Due to AHS' monopoly on the provision of heath care services in Alberta, combined with Mrs. Carritt’s specialized qualifications and experience ... AHS is the only corporation in Alberta where Mrs. Carritt could reasonably be employed in her profession based on her training and experience,” the claim says.
It says she did not receive professional discipline before the pandemic and never had problems with her supervisors. She had a position of responsibility as a unit manager overseeing the work of other nurses and staff.
Carritt was unable to receive employment insurance because AHS submitted her employment record including “erroneous and inflammatory allegations,” the claim says.
Carritt argues she was wrongfully dismissed for “minor transgressions.” She stands by her interview with Rebel News, which she says did not misrepresent the situation in AHS and included information that was already publicly available.
The statement of claim takes issue with this, however, saying, “AHS failing to retract its erroneous CARNA complaint which led CARNA to publicly post Mrs. Carritt’s name and disciplinary decision, thereby harming Mrs. Carritt’s self-worth and reputation, which continues to cause Mrs. Carritt embarrassment and stress.”
AHS did not immediately respond to The Epoch Times request for comment on the allegations in the lawsuit.
Carritt is seeking about $420,000 in lost pay, $250,000 in punitive and/or aggravated damages related to a wrongful dismissal, and about $3 million in damages related to negligence.
