her own open letter<\/a>, calling on the Canadian government to help broker a ceasefire and support access to medical aid.<\/p>\n\u201cI was born in apartheid South Africa where my family were lesser humans under the law,\u201d Algu told the Star. She was six when Nelson Mandela was freed from prison, 13 when he said in Pretoria: \u201cOur freedom is incomplete without freedom for the Palestinians.\u201d<\/p>\n
The letter Algu wrote garnered more than 950 cosignatories, including five doctors on Algu\u2019s palliative care unit.<\/p>\n
Pull Quote<\/p>\n
My political opinions … (are) not relevant to my practice of palliative care.<\/p>\n
These six, invited to the meeting, were wary of the motivations of the unit leadership\u2019s invitation to discuss \u201cthe tangible local impacts of our current global context\u201d and a \u201ccheck in\u201d on everyone\u2019s safety. \u201cMy political opinions on this war [are] not relevant to my practice of palliative care,\u201d one of them told their boss by email. Three declined the invitation.<\/p>\n
Days prior to the meeting, a group of doctors at the palliative care unit had raised concerns with their leadership about Jewish pain not being recognized in their colleagues\u2019 public advocacy for Palestinians. The workplace was being affected by social media posts about Gaza, they told their managers on Jan. 10. The meeting to which Algu and the others were invited was an attempt to address those concerns, according to internal records that would detail the hospital\u2019s navigation of the situation.<\/p>\n
The Star reached out to Algu\u2019s supervisor who was present for part of the meeting and another manager who was named in her complaint. Neither responded to questions. The documents do not say, and Algu says she was never told, the identity of the doctors who raised concerns.<\/p>\n
The meeting with Algu and the two other doctors quickly turned tense. All three felt their out-of-work advocacy had come under undue scrutiny. According to notes they took at the meeting, they were told an op-ed Algu had authored \u2014 in which she questioned why doctors were being prohibited from speaking about a \u201cgenocide unfolding against many innocent families in Gaza\u201d \u2014 had made colleagues feel unsafe and unable to focus on work.<\/p>\n
They were told there was no formal complaint and no specific breaches of policy had been identified, and that the \u201cleadership supports activism.\u201d When they asked if they needed to do anything differently, they were told: \u201cI don\u2019t think you need to do anything differently, but you may choose to.\u201d<\/p>\n
The three attendees allege they faced reprisals soon after the meeting. Algu alleges her work environment was made hostile and that her supervisor\u2019s messages minimized her other significant contributions. The two other physicians, who were each on one-year contracts with the palliative unit, were told their contracts would not be renewed due to funding constraints. They told the Star that when they were hired a few months prior, they were given every impression that they would get a permanent job.<\/p>\n
All three filed complaints with Sinai Health alleging discrimination based on their advocacy.<\/p>\n
To respond to the complaints, Sinai Health retained the law firm Osler, Hoskin and Harcourt. Osler in turn hired workplace investigator Gillian Shearer, who was also asked to conduct a separate assessment of \u201ccertain concerns [that have] been raised regarding the physician work environment,\u201d according to an email sent to the department. The investigation concluded the nonrenewals were driven by resourcing issues.<\/p>\n
Algu says she was surprised when this workplace assessment ended up putting a target on her back. \u201cI had never had a complaint against me nor was I accused of being toxic in the 10 years I worked there,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Social media as workplace conduct<\/p>\n
In June 2024, as the investigations proceeded, another doctor at the palliative care unit, Hershl Berman, made a post on X that included a screenshot of an earlier tweet by Algu. In that tweet, she had demanded the University of Toronto stop investing in companies profiting off what the International Court of Justice \u201chas already deemed plausible genocide.\u201d Months after the ICJ\u2019s ruling, a judge would clarify that the ruling meant \u201cthere was a risk of irreparable harm to the Palestinian right to be protected from genocide.\u201d<\/p>\n
Berman\u2019s post showed Algu\u2019s name and profile photo, and part of his caption read: \u201cJust because a loud racist minority is yelling hate and lies does not mean U of T has to bow to their wishes even if those people are doctors.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"afw_KavitaAlgu_02.JPG\"](\"data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAQAAAAe\/WZNAAAAEElEQVR42mM8U88ABowYDABAxQPltt5zqAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==\")
<\/p>\n
Kavita Algu was among a small team at Mount Sinai Hospital that successfully applied for government funding for a palliative care program for Indigenous patients.<\/p>\n
Andrew Francis Wallace Toronto Star<\/p>\n
Berman had previously posted on social media about the Israel-Palestine issue. In one since-deleted post, he called pro-Palestinian protesters \u2014 including then-MPP Sarah Jama and then MP Matthew Green, who were visiting the encampment at the University of Toronto \u2014 \u201cmodern day Nazis.\u201d In another tweet, later deleted, Berman said that people who didn\u2019t want a Jewish doctor who supported Israel were free to find another doctor as there were plenty of nonracist patients to look after. He added a gif of a door being slammed on someone\u2019s face.<\/p>\n
The post featuring the Algu screenshot targeted her specifically, she told Sinai, and created an \u201cunsafe professional and academic environment.\u201d<\/p>\n
To Algu, Berman\u2019s post violated Sinai Health\u2019s respectful workplace policy, which forbids \u201cany act of discrimination, harassment, bullying, or incivility towards any of Sinai Health\u2019s people.\u201d<\/p>\n
When reached by the Star, Berman declined to comment. Sinai Health did not respond to a question about whether they had asked Berman to change his social media posts.<\/p>\n
Unsubstantiated claims, then an unsettling development<\/p>\n
The investigation into the complaints by Algu and the two doctors who attended the January meeting found they were unsubstantiated. There was no evidence that the meeting was an effort to silence voices advocating for Palestinians, nor was there evidence that they were working in a poisoned environment, the investigation report said.<\/p>\n
It also concluded that Algu\u2019s two colleagues were not rehired at a time when there was a funding crunch as well as overstaffing. Shearer previously noted it was a norm at the centre to overstaff.<\/p>\n
She also said their bias claims were tainted by discussions they had among themselves after they filed their complaints. Algu\u2019s lawyer told the investigator during the probe that the complainants\u2019 views \u201cshould not be discounted simply because they talked about a very difficult workplace situation with one another.\u201d<\/p>\n
A day later, the result of the environment assessment came in.<\/p>\n
It found Sinai Health leadership did not effectively manage the challenges relating to the expression of views around Israel-Palestine because the leaders had adopted a \u201csofter, compassionate approach\u201d and did not clearly and decisively communicate expectations and boundaries during a complex geopolitical situation, Sinai Health told palliative care staff in a memo.<\/p>\n
The investigator also said the point of the assessment was not to make factual findings about any particular individual. But the report went on to focus on Algu, whom the investigator concluded appeared to have a \u201cdisproportionately negative impact\u201d on the workplace culture.<\/p>\n
Algu said she felt baffled: Was her advocacy an issue for the hospital or was it not?<\/p>\n
The assessment cited \u201cmany\u201d unnamed colleagues, defined as at least eight people, as saying Algu\u2019s social media advocacy was \u201cirresponsible\u201d and \u201coffensive,\u201d and not respectful of patient care or safety.<\/p>\n
There was a perception that Algu used work time for personal advocacy and solicited colleagues for political causes, those interviewees said.<\/p>\n
But no specifics were offered. The assessment did not cite any specific tweet or act of advocacy as an example of wrongdoing, Algu said, it relied on perceptions and feelings. Her complaint, on the other hand, offered specific emails to support her allegations of a poisoned work environment. As for advocating during work, she said she used to sometimes tweet during breaks like other physicians, but she stopped even those sometime in early 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did go to a small number of protests on work days but would take vacation days for that.\u201d she said. She also did not identify herself as a Sinai employee in any of her public advocacy, Algu said.<\/p>\n
She said did not even know her conduct was being investigated as part of the workplace environment assessment until the final report was given to her.<\/p>\n
Labour and Employment lawyer Jackie Esmonde, who represented Algu, declined to comment on the Sinai situation, but said that, in general, it was \u201cextremely unusual and procedurally unfair for a workplace investigation to make negative findings against an employee without giving the opportunity to both know about the allegations and respond.\u201d<\/p>\n
The documents the Star reviewed contained no examples in support of the findings. Sinai Health did not offer any details when asked about the specific concerns related to Algu.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t share details or comment about our employees, physicians, scientists, learners or volunteers,\u201d the Sinai spokesperson said. \u201cOur highest priority is to ensure accessible and safe care for all.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Hershl Berman\u2019s post on X.<\/p>\n
Investigator Gillian Shearer declined to comment, citing lawyer-client confidentiality. She said, \u201cI conducted the investigation fairly and considered all the available relevant evidence.\u201d Osler, Hoskin and Harcourt declined to comment.<\/p>\n
Before she was given details of the investigations, Algu was told Sinai had dismissed\u00a0her complaint about Hershl Berman\u2019s tweet.<\/p>\n
Posts on X did not count as workplace conduct in this case, Osler concluded, because the communications were unrelated to Sinai Health and did not become workplace conduct simply because Algu and Berman were both colleagues.<\/p>\n
Berman had posted \u201ca picture of my face, my social profile, my tweet, and called me a racist,\u201d Algu said, noting that Sinai had considered his social media as being outside of the workplace. \u201cYet, somehow my social media was considered workplace,\u201d she said. She also said that she never referenced patients in her social media, while Berman did, yet she was the one called out by the workplace investigator for not considering patient safety.<\/p>\n
Concerns over Berman\u2019s social media resurfaced this year during an election to choose the next president of the Ontario Medical Association (OMA). Berman was one of five candidates to lead the prominent advocacy group for a one-year term.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is at issue here is not disagreement; it is conduct,\u201d more than 150 doctors told the OMA in a letter in February. Algu, who was by then not a part of Sinai, also signed it. \u201cPublicly branding colleagues as antisemitic, hateful, or aligned with Hamas\/extremist groups without due process or evidence crosses from discourse into harassment, intimidation, and reputational attack,\u201d the letter said.<\/p>\n
The OMA hired an external evaluator to review the candidates\u2019 social media. While the evaluator found no grounds to exclude Berman from the race, his posts \u2014 from late 2024 through December 2025 \u2014 were flagged as having used \u201clanguage frequently characterized by a confrontational and combative tone.\u201d No other candidates\u2019 social media was flagged.<\/p>\n
After another candidate soundly won the race, Berman told the National Post his religion was a factor in the treatment he received.<\/p>\n
Candidates for OMA presidents and board directors have been subject to social media checks since 2021, and the screening is standard during an election, the OMA told the Star. The vetting \u201cis not focused on personal opinions or positions but on interactions that could impact eligibility to hold office,\u201d a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
The letter that heightened the stakes<\/p>\n
In January 2025, the hospital sent Algu a letter outlining her alleged misconduct. It referenced the concerns that she posed a risk to safety and that she may have used work time to pursue her advocacy, and included the investigator\u2019s assessment of unspecified colleagues who said her social media advocacy was \u201cirresponsible\u201d and inconsiderate of the impact it had on them. Once again, Algu said, she was not offered details or examples of her allegedly offensive behaviour.<\/p>\n
Sinai\u2019s letter notified her of potential consequences such as sanctions or penalties that could impact the scope of her practice or ability to work in the health system.<\/p>\n
A staff member who worked with Algu at that time, who did not support Israel\u2019s actions, and did not want to be named for fear of losing their job called Sinai\u2019s disciplinary threats \u201cdystopian,\u201d and said that it \u201ccreated a chilling effect.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sinai said it takes \u201cany concerns related to workplace culture, professionalism, or discrimination seriously and addresses them through established policies and fair, confidential processes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI could no longer bring myself to give my labour to a workplace where people were targeted for speaking out against a genocide, including the bombing of hospitals and the murder and abduction of our Palestinian colleagues,\u201d she told the Star.<\/p>\n
She knew early on in med school that she wanted to care for dying patients and grieving families, and worked hard to get there.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was difficult to walk away from a career path I had invested so much into, and a team I genuinely loved. I left accepting that I may no longer get to practice in palliative care,\u201d she said. She gave up her specialization and now works in primary care.<\/p>\n
\u201cI lost my job over Palestine, but I found a deeper commitment to life and justice.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kavita Algu wasn\u2019t the most experienced public speaker, but she felt she had clarity as she looked down…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":842867,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194291],"tags":[49,48,8766,293650,293648,293651,293649,3302],"class_list":["post-842866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-gaza","tag-hershl_berman","tag-ontario_medical_association","tag-sinai","tag-social_media_posts","tag-toronto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=842866"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842866\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/842867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=842866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=842866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=842866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}