Media365
A New Jersey nurse claims she was suspended without pay after calling out a surgeon who allegedly celebrated the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk inside a hospital.Lexi Kuenzle, 33, filed a lawsuit Friday in Bergen County Superior Court against Englewood Health, surgeon Dr Matthew Jung, and others, alleging wrongful termination and retaliation.Kuenzle said the shocking exchange unfolded Wednesday at a nurse’s station in front of colleagues and even a patient on a stretcher.“Oh, my God! That’s terrible! I love him!” Kuenzle recalled saying after hearing news of Kirk’s killing.Jung allegedly responded: “I hate Charlie Kirk. He had it coming. He deserved it.”“You’re a doctor. How could you say someone deserved to die?” Kuenzle fired back, calling the remarks “mind-blowing.”The Hoboken resident, who has worked as a nurse for a decade — including two years at Englewood Health — reported the incident to management and later posted about it on her personal Instagram.But the next day, she said hospital administrators hauled her into a meeting, suspended her without pay, and warned she should “start looking for another job.”Her lawsuit argues she was punished for speaking out while Jung has faced no known discipline, aside from jokingly offering to “buy lunch” for staff after his alleged rant.Kuenzle is seeking unspecified damages, saying the hospital failed to protect staff and patients from “a doctor openly celebrating political violence.”The case has sparked outrage online, with GOP activist Scott Presler dubbing Kuenzle one of “Charlie’s Angels” and questioning whether Jung could treat patients impartially.“Would he treat them differently? Would he allow his emotions to cloud his judgment, as he did by saying such a statement in front of a patient?” Presler wrote.
