SC man says he was discriminated against by hospital over his views on BLM, COVID vaccine

A white man from South Carolina has filed a lawsuit alleging he experienced discrimination at a hospital where he worked after he expressed his views about the hospital’s support of BLM and his distrust of the COVID-19 vaccine, The Sun News reported this week.

According to the lawsuit, Thomas Frazier, a white man who is described as being over 40 years of age, worked at Grand Strand Medical Center from 2015 until he was terminated at the end of 2021. Frazier claims he was targeted by hospital leaders after he completed what he believed was an anonymous comment card saying he took issue with the hospital’s donation to the Black Lives Matter organization. After he turned in the comment card, he was called into meetings and allegedly made to explain his position on the topic.

In November 2021, Frazier says he was targeted once again after he posted his opinion against the federal mandate requiring hospital employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. He claims he was disciplined by the hospital for the comments, which were seen by hospital leadership, and ultimately was fired in December 2021 after he made what the hospital said were disparaging comments about the LGBTQ+ community.

Frazier complains that part of the reason he was fired is because he expressed his displeasure over a Diversity, Inclusion and Equity committee created by the hospital. According to Frazier, the committee did not consist of any white, heterosexual men. “I expressed how it made me feel discriminated against because of the lack of true diversity and it being more like trying to force a perception that true diversity means not including white men,” Frazier said. He claims he has witnessed other employees who were not white or male being allowed to get away with the same type of infractions without being fired or disciplined.

The hospital has not publicly responded to the lawsuit.