A B.C. emergency room doctor is suing the Fraser Health Authority, claiming it singled her out and retaliated against her for highlighting unsafe working conditions and hospital overcrowding.

“My job was threatened when I advocated for patients who weren’t receiving safe or standard care,” Dr. Kaitlin Stockton told Global News in an interview.

Stockton has worked at Royal Columbian and Eagle Ridge hospitals since 2017, where she has been repeatedly recognized for going “above and beyond,” according to a notice of civil claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court.

The suit claims that over the last two years, Stockton and her colleagues have “repeatedly advocated” for the health authority to address deteriorating working conditions at the hospitals and “increasingly unsafe and substandard patient care due to overcapacity and resource shortages.”

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  Another violent incident at Eagle Ridge Hospital
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The suit highlights several alleged recent violent incidents at the hospitals, including: an assault that left a nurse with a dislocated jaw and PTSD; an incident where a man with a machete threatened to kill hospital staff; an assault by a large intoxicated patient that left a nurse with broken ribs; and an incident where staff were attacked by a “patient’s large pitbull that was allowed to enter the ER.”

It also claims staff regularly face verbal abuse, moral distress and burnout from “being forced to provide unsafe, substandard, or undignified care due to overcapacity and resource shortages,” and that staff also fear speaking out or advocating for themselves and patients “due to a culture of retaliation against those who do.”

Stockton, the suit claims, was among those who faced retaliation.

The suit claims that Fraser Health aggressively retaliated against Stockton after ER staff banded together to post a notice at the entrance to the Eagle Ridge Hospital warning patients of resource shortages and long waits.

According to the notice of claim, the ER was facing a capacity and resource crisis on Nov. 18, 2024. It alleges ER staff’s requests to move patients to other parts of the hospital, cancel surgeries, divert ambulances and call a “code orange” — typically used during a disaster or mass casualty incident — were denied.

“The hospital was severely overcapacity that day, and we were understaffed. So, it was the perfect storm, really,” Stockton told Global News.

“I believed patients should be informed about what’s going on in our publicly funded hospital.”

But the group of doctors did get permission from the local department head to post the notice in the ER waiting area — where it led to social media posts and media coverage.

The suit claims that instead of addressing the problematic conditions, Fraser Health released a statement calling the signs “false,” then used CCTV footage to identify Stockton as the person who had physically posted the sign.

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The hospital’s medical director then phoned Stockton to tell her that health authority executives were “extremely angry” and claimed she was “misinforming the public” and in breach of the Canadian Medical Association’s Code of Conduct, the suit claims.

The medical director also threatened to revoke her right to work in the hospital and to file a complaint with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C. if she didn’t write an apology to the health authority and admit “wrongdoing,” the suit alleges.

It goes on to claim that the hospital director dismissed the fact that a group of doctors had created the sign, not Stockton alone, and that they had received permission from the department head to post it.

Stockton sought the support of a lawyer from the Canadian Medical Protective Association, leading to a meeting with Fraser Health executive medical director, Dr. David Wickham.

Following the meeting, “It was clear to Dr. Stockton that FHA was not truly interested in investigating the events of November 18th or proposing solutions, but rather in holding Dr. Stockton accountable for the fallout FHA experienced—namely, negative media attention and reputational harm,” the suit claims.

“Dr. Wickham accused Dr. Stockton of lying about her intent in posting the sign, told her that she had no right to put up the sign, and questioned Dr. Stockton about the font choice and other details of the sign, despite Dr. Stockton explaining that she did not personally write the sign.”

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In January, Stockton filed a respectful workplace complaint, requesting an apology for threats and harassment, which was denied six days later, the suit claims.

The health authority’s actions against Stockton and its failure to address any of the ongoing workplace concerns have made her continuing employment untenable, and amount to constructive dismissal, the suit alleges.

“No corrective action was taken to meaningfully address the inappropriate and abusive conduct towards her,” the suit claims.

“FHA condoned and/or permitted the ongoing bullying and harassment by its blatant failure and/or refusal to act on her behalf and, in doing so, actively facilitated the toxic workplace she was subjected to.”

The suit seeks $600,000 in damages, $350,000 representing her wages over a 12-month notice period and punitive damages of $250,000.

“Our hospitals are all literally overflowing with patients. And we can treat people in a timely manner with the resources that we have,” Stockton said.

“What should we do next time we’re faced with critical resource shortages and the inability to treat very sick patients in a timely fashion?”

Fraser Health says it does not comment on matters that are before the court.

None of the allegations have been proven in court.

-With files from Sarah MacDonald