A doctor who was among Twitter users successfully suing President Donald Trump in federal court is losing his job at Vanderbilt Medical Center, reports The Tennessean. A Vanderbilt spokesman says the move is not related to the lawsuit or frequent Twitter criticism of the president, though he suggests that it is.
Dr. Eugene Gu, 32, a Vanderbilt surgery resident, said Friday that Nashville’s biggest hospital is ending his five-year residency after only three years.
Technically, Vanderbilt has decided not to renew his contract with the hospital, Gu said, but he argues the effect is “no different than being fired.”
“The take-home message here is that there is an unwritten rule for surgical residents and that is rule is, always make your program look good and always make your hospital look good, and often that means stay silent,” Gu said. “But as an Asian-American physician, unlike a white doctor, I don’t always have the same luxury to stay silent.”
Vanderbilt said in an email statement Friday that the decision not to renew Gu’s contract was not a result of his criticism of Trump, his lawsuit, or his public opposition to racism. The hospital has said previously that all disciplinary actions against Gu relate to his work performance and professionalism.
… Gu, a liberal doctor with a large Twitter following, has become one of the most controversial figures at Vanderbilt over the past two years because of his public criticism of Trump, Republicans, gun culture and sometimes the hospital itself.
Gu is also one of seven Twitter users who sued Trump in federal court claiming the president had violated their First Amendment rights by blocking them from commenting on his tweets. The lawsuit, seen widely as a free speech debate for the social media age, ended with a ruling against the president about two weeks ago.
Trump unblocked Gu on Monday. The moment was “surreal” vindication, he said.
“When we first filed a lawsuit to defend our First Amendment rights, a big segment of the general public was almost mocking us, saying it was frivolous, and the stupidest lawsuit in the world,” Gu said. “But we won – we convinced a judge that it was unconstitutional.”
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