Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente told The Sacramento Bee a labor and delivery nurse who said Stephon Clark "deserved it" in a Facebook post is no longer employed at the system's Roseville (Calif.) Medical Center.
Screenshots taken by activist Christina Arechiga revealed Faith Linthicum, RN, the former Kaiser nurse, posted a comment to her Facebook in reference to Mr. Clark, a black man who was fatally shot by Sacramento police on March 18 while unarmed. Ms. Linthicum's Facebook post read, "Yeah but he was running from the police jumping over fences and breaking in peoples houses … why run??!!! He deserved it for being stupid."
After seeing the comment, Ms. Arechiga discovered Ms. Linthicum worked as a nurse in the Sacramento area. She screenshotted several of the nurse's comments and shared them on Facebook. Ms. Arechiga told the Bee people of color were unknowingly entrusting their infants to the nurse and paying her salary with their insurance money. On Facebook, Ms. Arechiga said, "How can we trust our lives, the lives of our black and brown babies to these people? Nurses are supposed to help people not be happy when people die."
Early last week, Kaiser told the Bee Ms. Linthicum was on administrative leave pending investigation. Then, on March 29, Kaiser told the Bee the nurse was no longer with the system and provided the publication with a statement, saying it "does not tolerate hate or discrimination and has a long history of embracing diversity and inclusion — it remains a place where we welcome everyone. We want to emphasize that the comments expressed by this employee, who is no longer with the organization, do not in any way reflect Kaiser Permanente's views or actions."
When asked if Ms. Linthicum was fired for her comments, a Kaiser spokesperson told the Bee it would not disclose details on personnel matters.
To read the full The Sacramento Bee's full report, click here.
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