Amy Hamm, a nurse from Vancouver, B.C., is seen in a file photo. Courtesy of Amy Hamm/JCCF
A B.C. nurse has had her licence suspended for a month and has been ordered to pay more than $90,000 after she was found liable of “professional misconduct” by the B.C. College of Nurses and Midwives (BCCNM) due to comments she made about gender issues.
The BCCNM announced its disciplinary decision on Aug. 14, after ruling in March that she had committed professional misconduct.
The organization had accused Amy Hamm three years ago of making “discriminatory and derogatory remarks concerning transgender people” in podcasts as well as in videos and on social media platforms between 2018 and 2021. She was also investigated by the college after helping a friend sponsor a billboard in support of UK author J.K. Rowling.
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), which supported Hamm’s legal defence, said in an Aug. 14 release that the BCCNM has ordered her to pay $93,639.80. Her nursing licence will also be suspended for a month, starting when she returns to nursing. Hamm was fired from her job as a registered nurse at Vancouver Coastal Health in March. She has not said when she will resume nursing.
Hamm previously filed an appeal with the Supreme Court after the BCCNM announced its misconduct finding in March. She is currently awaiting a decision. Her lawyer, Lisa Bildy, said she may also appeal the disciplinary decision.
“This decision effectively penalizes a nurse for expressing mainstream views aligned with science and common sense,” Bildy said in a press release. “The Panel’s ruling imposes a chilling effect on free expression for all regulated professionals.”
Hamm said in the press release that the college is punishing her “for statements that are not hateful, but truthful.” She added she is appealing the finding because “biological reality matters” and freedom of expression matters.
BCCNM said the suspension of Hamm’s license represents the second-most “serious action” a discipline committee panel can take, next to cancelling the licence.
“The Panel is satisfied that a one-month suspension will serve the public interest and the purposes of specific and general deterrence by making it clear that 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,” it said in an Aug. 14 statement on its website.
The college said it has given Hamm two years to pay the $93,639. It added that the penalty and costs were stayed until the outcome of the Supreme Court decision.
The college previously said its finding on Hamm’s online activities was “an important statement against discrimination.” It said nurses and midwives occupy a position of trust and influence in society, adding it would continue to “stand up” against discrimination.
Comments
Hamm first drew attention when she co-sponsored a billboard that read ‘I [love] JK Rowling” in 2020. The message was in reference to the UK author’s advocacy for female-only spaces.
The billboard resulted in two complaints to the college against Hamm. One called Hamm “transphobic” and not fit to be a nurse, according to the March 13 decision.
The college’s inquiry committee launched an investigation, resulting in a 300-page report on Hamm’s social media posts and other online activity.
Hamm was charged with professional misconduct as a result of the committee’s report.
The accusation of “unprofessional conduct” was linked to four cases where Hamm identified herself as a nurse while making “discriminatory and/or derogatory” comments, the BCCNM panel said. It included a biography attached to three articles she had written, and one podcast.
One of the incidents included Hamm referring to her nursing profession in a podcast with a “noted feminist.” During the recording, the two talked about author J.K. Rowling, transgender activism, and gender ideology, according to Hamm’s filing with the Supreme Court of B.C. The document notes that the women agreed those issues were having an “adverse impact” on women’s spaces, sports and safety, the court filing said.
BCCNM also noted some social media comments made by Hamm, who listed herself as a nurse in her biography. One such statement said, “Vancouver Rape Relief and Shelter will surely (and maddeningly) face continued backlash from trans activists determined to infiltrate or destroy women-only spaces.”
The panel said Hamm made statements that were “untruthful and unfair” and challenged “the existence of transgender women.”
It also said that her comments were designed to “elicit fear, contempt and outrage against members of the transgender community.”
Not all of Hamm’s comments that were the subject of the hearing were found to be unprofessional. The decision says that her comments about there being only two sexes was not discriminatory, but it said statements that a man cannot become a woman were discriminatory.
Human Rights Complaints
Hamm has also filed human rights complaints against the BCCNM, and Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) arguing they discriminated against her based on her political beliefs.
Hamm’s human rights complaint against VCH says discrimination based on her political beliefs led to her termination.
VCH spokesperson Jessica Holmes previously told The Epoch Times in an email that after reviewing the BCCNM decision, Hamm was “no longer with the health authority.”
Holmes said VCH expected all staff and medical staff to adhere to the “highest standards of conduct” regarding ethical and professional behaviour.