New Jersey nurse sues Englewood Health, alleging suspension after objecting to doctor’s remarks on Charlie Kirk’s death

ENGLEWOOD, N.J. — A nurse at Englewood Health filed a lawsuit alleging she was suspended without pay and “wrongly fired” after objecting to a surgeon’s comments about conservative commentator Charlie Kirk’s death.

According to the complaint, filed Friday in Bergen County Superior Court, nurse Lexi Kuenzle named Englewood Health, Dr. Matthew Jung, and others as defendants. The suit states that during a conversation at a nurses’ station—where eight nurses and a patient on a stretcher were present—Kuenzle reacted to breaking news of Kirk’s death, and Dr. Jung allegedly replied, “I hate Charlie Kirk. He had it coming. He deserved it.”

The lawsuit says Kuenzle questioned how Jung’s remarks aligned with the Hippocratic Oath and the American Medical Association’s Code of Medical Ethics. Kuenzle reported the incident to hospital management the same day and later described it on her personal Instagram account, the filing states.

Kuenzle alleges that the following day she was called into a meeting with hospital leadership and suspended without pay pending an investigation. A union representative advised her to begin seeking other employment, according to the complaint. The lawsuit further claims it was unclear whether Jung faced any discipline. It also alleges Jung later offered to “buy lunch” for the nurses who heard his comments, but that Kuenzle would not have been included because she had been suspended.

In a separate media interview, Kuenzle said she was “angry and upset” about the exchange and questioned how a physician could say someone “deserved to die.” She has been a nurse for 10 years, including nearly two years at Englewood Health, the complaint notes.

The lawsuit references news that Kirk was shot at a Utah Valley University event earlier in the week. Republican activist Scott Presler publicly questioned whether a doctor who made such comments could treat patients impartially.

The hospital and the defendants did not immediately provide comment in the filing cited by Kuenzle. The suit seeks relief related to her alleged suspension and termination.

Source: nypost