A tight-knit Toronto hospital unit cared for the dying. Then, a war thousands of miles away tore them apart

No winners in this:

…Unsubstantiated claims, then an unsettling development

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.

It also concluded that Algu’s 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.

She also said their bias claims were tainted by discussions they had among themselves after they filed their complaints. Algu’s lawyer told the investigator during the probe that the complainants’ views “should not be discounted simply because they talked about a very difficult workplace situation with one another.”

A day later, the result of the environment assessment came in.

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 “softer, compassionate approach” and did not clearly and decisively communicate expectations and boundaries during a complex geopolitical situation, Sinai Health told palliative care staff in a memo.

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 “disproportionately negative impact” on the workplace culture.

Algu said she felt baffled: Was her advocacy an issue for the hospital or was it not?

…The assessment cited “many” unnamed colleagues, defined as at least eight people, as saying Algu’s social media advocacy was “irresponsible” and “offensive,” and not respectful of patient care or safety.

There was a perception that Algu used work time for personal advocacy and solicited colleagues for political causes, those interviewees said.

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.

“I did go to a small number of protests on work days but would take vacation days for that.” she said. She also did not identify herself as a Sinai employee in any of her public advocacy, Algu said.

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.

Labour and Employment lawyer Jackie Esmonde, who represented Algu, declined to comment on the Sinai situation, but said that, in general, it was “extremely 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.”

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.

“We don’t share details or comment about our employees, physicians, scientists, learners or volunteers,” the Sinai spokesperson said. “Our highest priority is to ensure accessible and safe care for all.”

Investigator Gillian Shearer declined to comment, citing lawyer-client confidentiality. She said, “I conducted the investigation fairly and considered all the available relevant evidence.” Osler, Hoskin and Harcourt declined to comment.

Before she was given details of the investigations, Algu was told Sinai had dismissed her complaint about Hershl Berman’s tweet.

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.

Berman had posted “a picture of my face, my social profile, my tweet, and called me a racist,” Algu said, noting that Sinai had considered his social media as being outside of the workplace. “Yet, somehow my social media was considered workplace,” 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.

Concerns over Berman’s 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.

“What is at issue here is not disagreement; it is conduct,” 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. “Publicly 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,” the letter said.

The OMA hired an external evaluator to review the candidates’ social media. While the evaluator found no grounds to exclude Berman from the race, his posts — from late 2024 through December 2025 — were flagged as having used “language frequently characterized by a confrontational and combative tone.” No other candidates’ social media was flagged.

After another candidate soundly won the race, Berman told the National Post his religion was a factor in the treatment he received.

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 “is not focused on personal opinions or positions but on interactions that could impact eligibility to hold office,” a spokesperson said….

Source: A tight-knit Toronto hospital unit cared for the dying. Then, a war thousands of miles away tore them apart