A Michigan physician assistant fired for refusing to use transgender pronouns and offer gender reassignment referrals says she hopes the favorable legal settlement reached last week with her former employer emboldens other Christians to stand when their faith is tested.
Back in 2021, University of Michigan Health-West (UMHW) fired Valerie Kloosterman, a professing Christian, after learning that Kloosterman would not refer patients for gender reassignment or use patients’ preferred pronouns because it would violate her Christian beliefs.
Kloosterman had an exemplary record serving her patients over 17 years and had requested a religious accommodation, said Kayla Toney, legal counsel at First Liberty Institute, which represented Kloosterman in a religious discrimination suit against UMHW. Clement & Murphy LLP, Lightstone Law and Bossenbrook Williams PC, also assisted in the case.
In August 2025, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Kloosterman’s favor. Toney says that ruling vindicated her based on clear constitutional protections and federal employment statutes.
Stemming from that decision, First Liberty announced a $410,000 damages and fees settlement against UMHW on July 29. The settlement requires UMHW to “create a religious accommodation policy in accordance with the law, notify and train all its employees [and] grant reasonable religious accommodations without retaliation.”
Kloosterman’s lawsuit had alleged UMHW officials disparaged her character and her religious doctrine prior to her dismissal, even suggesting that such beliefs contribute to suicides among gender-dysphoric people.
Kloosterman said that through the five-year ordeal, she has leaned on 1 Corinthians 16:13-14: “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong; let all that you do be done in love” (NIV).
“We’re called to be faithful to our Creator God. But we’re to do that in love,” Kloosterman told Decision. She said she treats every patient, regardless of their beliefs, as people who are image-bearers of God and in need of compassion.
“My prayer is that believers would stand firm, that they would be light and salt wherever God has placed them, that they would see who they’re working with and working for as people created in the image of God,” Kloosterman said. “For my friends and colleagues still working at UMHW, I’m glad that now they can receive a religious accommodation because of the policy change we achieved. That’s all I was asking for in the first place, before I was fired.”
She added that she hopes Christians who follow her story would “pray that our patients would see the light of Christ and receive quality care that serves the whole person. We have a desire to serve all patients, regardless of their background, with the love described in 1 Corinthians 13.”
Toney emphasized to Decision that the Constitution and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act already require healthcare systems to respect and accommodate their religious employees.
“UMHW’s new policy ensures that people of faith won’t be forced to participate in gender transition treatments that violate their beliefs, forced to affirm statements in mandatory trainings that go against their consciences, or forced to use pronouns that go against their consciences.
“The policy is binding on UMHW because that’s the entity that fired Ms. Kloosterman, but it sets a powerful precedent across the entire health system and for other hospitals across the country. The law requires employers to accommodate people of faith in the healthcare setting.”
