I couldn't help but notice your profile was created just over a month ago, and since then, you have commented on nothing but this Kaiser thread and particularly when it came to any discussion about Dr. Khoury.
I find this situation deeply concerning because of the concerns that can be raised based on the evaluation of official sources alone:
On June 10, 2020, Dr. Khoury was recognized for her "great work" by Dr. Kanter, Chair of Clinical Science:
On August 28, the classroom events in question took place under the instruction of Dr. Khoury. According to Dr. Khoury, she received a phone call "nine hours after the class" informing her of her suspension, apparently from Dr. Connelly (
Doctor at Kaiser Medical School Claims She Was Suspended for Talking Race,
Black Doctor Fired From Med School After Discussing Racism)
Following this phone notification, on September 1, formal communication from a Maureen T Connelly identified in the email header, who is actually Dr. Connelly, Senior Associate Dean for Academic and Community Affairs, writes that the removal of Dr. Khoury from her faculty duties "was prompted by a complaint about certain classroom activities that took place on Friday morning, August 28."
Maureen T. Connelly, MD, MPH, is Senior Associate Dean for Academic and Community Affairs and a professor at the school. She was formerly Harvard Medical School's Dean for Faculty Affairs, and helped found the New England Network on Faculty Affairs.
medschool.kp.org
Between this communication, Dr. Khoury claims that the medical school failed to respond with an adequate explanation for her suspension, whether to her directly or her attorney.
Black Doctor Fired From Med School After Discussing Racism
Despite the explicit identification of Dr. Khoury's classroom activities as the justification for her suspension by Dr. Connelly, on December 31, 2020, Dr. Kanter-- the same person who praised Dr. Khoury for her "great work" in June, now notifies Dr. Khoury of "multiple issues related to your job performance and conduct" leading KPSOM to not renew her contract, and claims this decision was "not based upon your bringing content related to anti-racism."
On January 10, 2021, Dean Schuster wrote to Dr. Khoury with an apology but again claims her contract non-renewal was not related to the anti-racism curriculum she delivered and offers the potential for her return to the school following a discussion process.
The students of KP group released a statement on January 11, 2020 in support of Dr. Khoury, positively reviewing the content she presented in the August 28 course.
As many will likely see, there is an obvious disconnect in official communication alone. The timing of Dr. Khoury's suspension is highly suggestive of direct action in response to the course she delivered 9 hours prior, and can be confirmed by correspondence from Dr. Connelly. Yet, months later, both Dean Schuster and Dr. Kanter claim her suspension was due to job performance issues other than the anti-racism curriculum, despite Dr. Kanter being the same chair who recognized Dr. Khoury's "great work" and submitted her request for promotion. Based on this information, however, it is difficult to conclude Dr. Khoury's claims "don't hold much water" considering they can be supported based on official communications alone.
When you then take into account the perspective of the Students of KP account, synthesizing the lack of transparency over 16 weeks, attempt to silo the student and faculty community of KPSOM, and vague statements about how the public narrative is inaccurate and a misunderstanding with no further explanation, it is difficult to believe there is nothing inconsistent about KPSOM's case. Dr. Khoury has remained steadfastly consistent, and her accounts are supported by evidence.
https://twitter.com/StudentsofKP/status/1339693952799150080?s=20
The only viable series of events to justify KPSOM's accounts here would be for Dr. Khoury's shining performance, which earned her the request for promotion in June, to suddenly decline following that enough to justify contract non-renewal, yet not decline enough for her to be specifically invited to discuss anti-racism on August 28, yet this still does not answer why her suspension was timed specifically within hours of her curriculum delivery unless she somehow committed a grave violation of her responsibilities hours after her class. This still also fails to explain why Dr. Connelly would explicitly identify her classroom activities as the justification for her suspension immediately following her teaching.
Though only one party has been speaking in this situation so far, Dr. Khoury has presented her case with substantiated evidence in communication directly from members of KPSOM. It is hard to justify any reasonable sequence of events for the actions that KPSOM has committed under the reasoning they have provided.
