Posted on 06/20/2002 4:38:21 AM PDT by Love of Country
Christian who questioned lecture complains to EEOC
Last Updated: June 18, 2002 Michael Curtiss headed to a Tuesday lecture in his family practice residency program in Wausau a few months ago, expecting to hear the usual discussion of some aspect of medicine. Instead, he sat surprised as two Muslim first-year residents gave a presentation on Islam.
Quotable
I don't think faith has any place being in a public university
- Michael Curtiss, former medical resident
The residents offered prayers, talked about the five pillars of Islam, defended its treatment of women and spoke to allay fears that the U.S. government would intern Muslims, said Curtiss, a staunch Christian and former seminarian. The two-hour session occurred Jan. 8, Curtiss said.
Curtiss, who once raffled off guns to help pay for a congressional campaign, didn't think it appropriate to use class time to focus on religion - especially considering this was a University of Wisconsin Medical School program.
He challenged the presenters, Altaf Kaiseruddin and Ilyas Sial, asking six questions using biblical Scripture as his guide.
A week later, Kaiseruddin took him aside and warned him his time at the program was up, Curtiss claims. A few days after that encounter, Curtiss said, he learned his three-month contract would not be renewed, and no one told him why.
The 44-year-old has since filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, accusing the university of religious, age and disability discrimination. He believes that UW officials not only discriminated against him because of the nature of his participation in the lecture but also ruined his chances of getting a position with a Michigan State University program afterward.
"I don't think faith has any place being in a public university," said Curtiss, who said he was a second-year resident. "If I would have said to Kevin (O'Connell, the Wausau program director), 'I'd like to take two and a half hours of teaching time to tell the staff and the residents and people who work here about the salvation that's available through Jesus Christ,' do you think he would have even let me speak?"
The other side O'Connell tells a different story.
He says the program accepted Curtiss as a first-year resident, offering him a three-month contract because of his non-traditional background. According to O'Connell, Curtiss' medical internship was in the 1980s but it couldn't be confirmed because the program no longer existed. Curtiss had graduated from Rush Medical College in Chicago, O'Connell said. A review of Illinois license records turned up an active medical license for a Michael S Curtiss.
Curtiss received a contract in effect from Nov. 1 through Jan. 31 that stipulated the program could opt not to renew it and Curtiss would have no right to appeal within the university's grievance process, O'Connell said. On Dec. 17, Curtiss went on medical leave because of back problems. According to O'Connell, the session on Islam occurred Dec. 18, and Curtiss did attend and ask several questions, as did others.
In mid-January, program officials reviewed Curtiss' brief tenure and decided - based purely on performance factors - not to renew his contract, O'Connell said. Department chairman John Frey sent Curtiss a letter informing him of the non-renewal, but it didn't give a reason why, O'Connell admitted.
O'Connell declined to give details about Curtiss' performance.
The Islam lecture came about after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, when a lot of patients expressed nervousness and confusion during checkups, O'Connell said. Because Kaiseruddin and Sial were available, program leaders felt it would be convenient and appropriate to have a session on the religion.
"We teach about tolerance and cross-culturalism all the time," O'Connell said.
Despite repeated attempts, Kaiseruddin and Sial could not be reached for comment. Frey also could not be reached.
The university also released a statement on the topic. "Dr. Curtiss was employed for a brief time with the University of Wisconsin-Department of Family Medicine, and the university has met its obligations to him under the terms and conditions set forth in its contract with him," part of the statement reads. "The university believes his charge is without merit and denies his allegations."
Exchange regarded as civil Two other residents in the program who asked not to be named confirmed the contents of the lecture. One of the residents said the exchanges between Curtiss and the presenters had been civil, mainly focusing on the differences between Christianity and Islam. Others besides Curtiss asked questions, said the resident, who didn't want to be named for fear he'd be "blacklisted."
The resident said he considered Curtiss a top resident.
"I think he's a fine physician. An excellent physician," the resident said. "He was very knowledgeable. He was very involved with clinical discussions and meetings and just really put a strong effort forward."
O'Connell had met with residents and informed them that Curtiss' contract had not been renewed for legitimate reasons, but he would not elaborate because of the litigation, the resident said.
After Curtiss found out he couldn't return to the Wausau program, he applied to a Michigan State program. He said he was accepted, but then, in May, he heard from William Short, that family practice program's director, telling him he wouldn't get a spot after all. Curtiss believes that, somehow, word of his encounter with Kaiseruddin and Sial got to Short. Short could not be reached Tuesday.
O'Connell said Short had called him. Apparently, Curtiss had denied being in the Wausau program and Short wanted to make sure, O'Connell said. He also confirmed that Curtiss had been in the program and his contract was not renewed, but he insists he never mentioned Curtiss' performance failures.
But Curtiss filed his complaint on more than just grounds of creed. He also claims age and disability discrimination. Curtiss, who is married and has two sons, said he had been suffering from a tumor in his spinal area and had trouble walking. Because the school wouldn't tell him why he was being let go, he filed complaints on multiple grounds.
"They didn't give me any warning. They didn't give me any way to correct what I had done," he said. "They said: 'We don't need a reason. You're gone.' "
Curtiss also said he practiced medicine for 15 years in Illinois, mainly in rural areas, before returning for a second-year residency program.
He gained attention when he ran for a western Illinois congressional seat in 2000 and raffled off guns to raise campaign money.
"Second Amendment - that's the Constitution," Curtiss said when asked about the raffle Tuesday.
Curtiss, who said he's a member of the Evangelical Free Church, isn't keen on Islam. He said he has read the Qur'an ("Know thine enemy, right?" he said) and considers it a very contradictory book, especially on topics such as warfare. He also expressed resentment at foreign students who are accepted into residency programs in the United States, saying they take up seats that should go to Americans.
That might have swayed the audience away from their agenda. We are having a similar type problem with our youth pastor. He was fired, no reason was given and we are told we are not allowed to know the reason due to a Covenant of Confidentiality. When you are fired and given no reason, people assume the worst.
He resents foreign students.
He doesn't like certain other religion(s).
Glad my doc doesn't give a damn about much other than medicine.
Of course. After all,"our diversity is our strength".
I think the admonition to "walk a mile in my shoes" applies.
How do you know your doc wouldn't do the same if faced with similar circumstances, or his dismissal with no reason given?
Having grown up in the area and having lived in Wausau for many years this imo sucks
but does not surprise me..."They" fell all over themselves giving away their culture and safety
to appease the various ethnic groups they brought in and still treat like special pets who are somehow above the laws the founders descendants must follow.
"They" being the local leaders who didnt grow up in the area or who migrated back after attending the UW re-education camps..
Defended Islam's treatment of women? How do you defend the stoning of rape victims?
I'm not sure what you mean.
The statement "You have no idea what he believes" is not true of me and my doc. It's not that hard to learn what a man believes.
(I guess some people are good at hiding their beliefs, but I sure wouldn't trust somebody like that to poke in my body and write prescriptions! I'd run like hell.)
They pride themselves for not accepting ANY fed money, nor the restrictions thereto.
They'll never be playing ball in the Big Ten, but some of their lecture programs on freedom, political, intellectual, and religious, are beautiful.
A good, conservative physician organization is the Association of American of Physicians and Surgeons - AAPS
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