A B.C nurse has asked B.C. Supreme Court to rescind a B.C. College of Nurses and Midwives discipline decision.
A college disciplinary panel of the B.C. College of Nurses and Midwives said Amy Hamm committed unprofessional conduct for making "discriminatory and derogatory statements" about transgender people.
Hamm, in an April 14 petition to the court filed by lawyer Lisa Bildy, asserts Hamm’s Charter rights to freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression are being violated.
The panel's March 13 decision said Hamm's statements made across "various online platforms" between July 2018 and March 2021 were partly designed "to elicit fear, contempt and outrage against members of the transgender community."
The decision said Hamm's statements were targeted toward "vulnerable and marginalized" people. It said her comments may deter transgender people from accessing the health-care system.
The decision said Hamm publicly identified herself as a nurse or nurse educator while making statements that were mostly "untruthful and unfair," challenging the "existence of transgender women" and advocating for less "constitutional protection" for them.
The decision said Hamm’s statements included an online article identifying her as a nurse educator in which she claimed transgender activists wanted to "infiltrate or destroy" spaces designed for women only.
In the petition to the court, Hamm wants the decision set aside and a reversal of the finding that she committed unprofessional conduct under B.C.’s Health Professions Act.
“Ms. Hamm is a longtime advocate of women’s rights, particularly with respect to the adverse impact of gender ideology on such rights, and a prolific writer,” the petition said. “She has never had a patient complaint nor, until the events that were the subject of the decision, was she ever subject to discipline by her employer or her regulator.”
The petition said the college received complaints from two people after she was identified as a person who had participated in the rental of a Vancouver billboard, “which read, 'I ♥ J K Rowling' in response to a controversy which had erupted about the famous author’s essay setting out her position on transgender rights and their conflict with women’s rights.”
The petition said there was no allegation Hamm engaged in any workplace behaviour or conduct to cause the college to question her professional competence.It said that for more than four years, from the start of the college's investigation until the subsequent decision, she continued to work as a nurse.
The petition alleges the college panel made multiple errors.
“There was no direct complainant alleging discrimination or a denial of services by Ms. Hamm,” the petition said. “There was no evidence that Ms. Hamm discriminated against anyone, whether professionally or otherwise, within the usual meaning of the term.”
The petition asserted the panel erred by favouring one “marginalized” group over another and demeaning women’s rights and protections.
The petition claimed such decisions make it impossible for Hamm to engage in her advocacy work.
The college said it is aware of the petition but said it cannot comment on the case.
None of the allegations have been proven in court.
