Lincy Pandithurai, Texas Nurse Practitioner Who Harassed Lesbian Veteran, Removed From Job

A nurse practitioner whose alleged harassment of a lesbian Marine veteran sparked an online backlash campaign has been removed from her job.

A Dallas Veterans Affairs Medical Center spokesperson confirmed that nurse practitioner Lincy Pandithurai would "retire from federal service" effective Jan. 21. Pandithurai reportedly told Esther Garatie, a honorably discharged Marine Lance Corporal who was seeking treatment for severe depression and possible post-traumatic stress disorder, that the reason she was depressed and contemplating suicide was because she was a lesbian.

“The board was able to substantiate material portions of the veteran’s claims,” the spokesperson said in a statement as quoted by the Dallas Observer. "Our commitment to equal rights remains strong as we practice our core values of integrity, commitment, advocacy, respect and excellence."

Upon learning of Pandithurai's removal, the 28-year-old Garatie also issued a statement. "I really want to thank all of the people that have come together to support me and other veterans," she said "Thank you for standing up against anything like this ever happening -- to any veteran -- ever again."

As the Dallas Voice reports, Garatie initially sought treatment for severe depression and possible post-traumatic stress disorder in October, upon which Pandithurai inquired about her sexual orientation.

“She sat down and looked at me, and her first question was, ‘Are you a lesbian?’” Garatie wrote in a statement. “Her second question to me was, ‘Have you asked God into your heart? Have you been saved by Jesus Christ?’"

She concluded, "This is when I realized that I was no longer a United States veteran in her eyes, I was just a homosexual.”

Following the incident, Garatie and a friend launched an online petition at Change.org calling for Pandithurai to be fired, which drew over 19,500 signatures. As The Advocate is reporting, the hospital launched an investigation in November in response to the petition, taking Pandithurai away from patients in the interim.

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Comments

[Sarrellec]

10:08 AM on 01/25/2012

Even still yet one more time, that good old judeo/christian construct at work spreading the love of "god".
You just can't make this stuff up.

[brian68reiss]

02:06 AM on 01/25/2012

REF: Lincy Pandithurai,NP, the small picture looks as if she also was in the service? If so, there really was no basis for her actions as they would have been against her Military training. But, more important she forgot, or set aside, the fact that Esther Garatie fought for this country and had earned the due respect of all envolved and was thoughtlessly attacked by the NP Pandithurai. The NP was totally out of line and should have been relieved of her duties.I suffer from Severe PTSD and I can tell you if I had had the same thing pulled on me I would have completely lost it. She completely crossed the line on this and probably did more damage to this already hurting warrior.I know the VA does not accept anything like what Ester had to indure and I really hope they apologized to Corp. Garatie and got her the best care possible for her!
Viking21,CPT,USAR,RET. Helicopter Gunship A/C,and I have PTSD,& hospitalized 4 times!

[jgw845]

11:37 AM on 01/25/2012

It looks to me like that is an enlisted female marine uniform, so my guess is that is (then) L/Cpl Garatie. If the photo is Ms. Pandithurai, she would have had to have been a Navy Corpsman assigned to the Fleet Marine Force (FMF) who are assigned directly to Marine units and authorized to wear Marine uniforms with appropriate Navy rating patches, etc. FMF corpsman are the field medics for Marine combat units. I honestly don't know if women are now assigned to that NEC.
If Ms. Pandithurai was a former Navy corpsman assigned to FMF, I am hard pressed she would be so insensitive to a veteran, especially a former Marine.
(I am former USN)

[brian68reiss]

03:39 PM on 01/25/2012

Yes, that is what I thought also. It would have been very insensitive. The picture was confusing I thought and I also didn't know the possible rank of a nurse/practioner. The information you added was helpful as I had limited contact with Naval personnel. I am sure that the incident did more damage than good though and shouldn't have happened.

[jalicea2001]

05:00 PM on 01/24/2012

I don't agree with the nurse by any means. Her comments were insensitive and ignorant, but I don't get how they were harassing?

[Ioan Lightoller]

08:59 PM on 01/24/2012

If you were gay and subjected to a two hour religious rant, you might well understand Esther's position. I do.

[jalicea2001]

04:58 PM on 01/24/2012

I don't see how these comments from the nurse to this gay veteran can be construed as harassment? I know I will be attacked by gay individuals for even making this comment. It's really ironic today when gays demanded rights for so long and they now have a voice and they are on a campaign to destroy anyone who disagrees with them. This is America and everyone is guaranteed a voice and you don't have to like it or agree, it's called freedom of speech!

[Watching rock grow]

06:13 PM on 01/24/2012

It is your feeling that the questions asked bordered on harassment. It was the feeling of the Ms. Garatie that they did. Feelings, yours or Ms. Garatie, right or wrong just exist.

I do know that the questions asked by Ms. Panditthurai violated her professional and legal regulations of her job protocol. This was the actual reason for her leaving the military at this time: the violation of protocol. I wonder if the Board of Nurse Practitioners will call her before it, for violating her professional duty. I feel they should for the sake of the profession.

I wonder if someone came up to you and asked ( if allowed to be asked) if you were a homosexual and then kept asking you questions as if they hadn’t heard your original reply. What would you say about the questioner and interview?

PS I am not gay, and I am pretending that your comment was in sincere confusion.

[Watching rock grow]

06:14 PM on 01/24/2012

Correction the sentance should read: It is your feelings that the questions asked did not border on harassment.

[sharon rainey]

04:43 PM on 01/24/2012

her job as a nurse was to provide medical care, not to interject her own personal opinions, thoughts or views.

[Wayne Deck]

12:02 PM on 01/24/2012

Maybe she should have sent her to Michelle and Marcus Bachmann, and they could have prayed the gay away.

[Kambriel2]

07:49 PM on 01/23/2012

I hope Lance Corporal Garatie was able to get the treatment and care she needed, despite this mess with the Nurse Practitioner and her Jesus cure. It's rough enough dealing with trauma, depression and stress without a total stranger pulling this kind of stuff. Our veterans deserve better.

[sourkreme]

06:47 PM on 01/23/2012

================

I am a straight male disabled veteran. I am very proud of the men & women that have treated me through veterans hospital & clinics since the mid 70's. These men & women from housekeeping to kitchen staff to doctor's & nurses along with lab techs & many volunteers have always treated me with respect & have high professionalism for each of their jobs no matter how important they were it was more about you. I have had 32 surgeries so I have had contact with almost every part of the hospital staff. However even though you have these many people who care & are professionals at what they do there still are bad apples. Not just in the VA Healthcare System but in all wakes of life you still have the people that want to treat people that are not the same as them as some type of outcast. Why can't people just take people as they are & judge them as a person & not is what is different about them ? Dr. MLK Jr. had it right 45 years ago about judging a person by the content of their character. Employee's of the US Government have so much training when it comes to sensitivity issues. Why was this nurse practitioner allowed to retire ? She should have been fired on the spot ! NO clean slate that she can move on to another job somewhere else with a clean record. That's BS !

[Arbutus]

01:09 PM on 01/24/2012

Thanks for your service and your common sense.

[Watching rock grow]

06:16 PM on 01/24/2012

That is the medical profession, and much worse actions are taken to protect the profession at other times.

[sourkreme]

08:29 AM on 01/25/2012

I know exactly what you mean. In the profession I worked a lot in hospitals. Dust particles escaped a construction area & killed a few patients who had their immune system brought down very low so that the body did not reject transplanted organ (at least this is what a nurse told us). We immediately had window's taken out of the building in that site and all future sites with air filter's blowing the air outside making the room have negative pressure when the door was opened. The word was that a few patients were killed because of dust particles leaving the room and their immune system being down so low to accept that transplants they were not able to fight the bacteria off. At another hospital something happen in an operating room when a doctor cleared a room of persons who were not in an operating room and I personally heard one nurse tell another when she asked " What is going on ? " another nurse responded "This is where we all get the story straight of what happen in there." I am not saying anything wrong went on in the operating room but I have never seen that happen before or people have an expression on their face as that group did. I know things go wrong but just the way that those people acted always put suspicion on my mind that there was some kind of cover up that day.

[mortimus magoo]

04:59 PM on 01/23/2012

Geez, I guess it would have been better if she would have said "can i dine at the "Y"!

[GBulldog]

03:54 PM on 01/23/2012

The nurse needed to keep her mouth shut. I am a Catholic and it is not your place to pass along judgement especially your own opinions. Jesus loves all. I cannot pass along my religion / opinions at work because I don't agree with someone else. If it was an open discussion then that is different. You don't tell someone that they are going to Hell. It's not your call it's God's.

[sourkreme]

06:59 PM on 01/23/2012

The only thing GBulldog about what you say is the " I'm Catholic " part. I am also Roman Catholic and that should not even have a thing to do with the conversation. I am really surprised the other so called Catholic's are not calling for you to be burned at the stake. Our society has a problem when it comes to the word " ALL ." One thing religious people forget is that " Religion starts most wars ! "

[spikemk]

01:41 PM on 01/23/2012

She said she said

[yevsek hunter]

02:17 AM on 01/23/2012

Things have completely reversed in our society through the "culture war". It is stiking fulfillment of the Bible's prophesy of the appearance of the "End Time's" Anti-Christ. It is a war between Christianity, and anti-Christian, Marxism.

[felliott]

10:20 AM on 01/23/2012

It's apparent that Jesus' flock has mad cow disease.

[yevsek hunter]

10:22 PM on 01/23/2012

Dear felliott, What did I write that is not true? When I was young, and this country identified itself as a Christian country, Homosexuallity was considered a mental illness by the APA, and pornography, abortion, and homosexuallity were all shameful and illegal. Also, Atheism was not respectable. At that time,the Federal, State and Local governments in the U.S. democratically honored the Christian Majority by reflecting Christian values in their laws and holydays. We had governments "of the (majority) people, by the (majority) people, and for the (majority) people (Christians, same as today). Now we have gvernments of, by and for the anti-Christian Minority, or Bolshevism.

[Arbutus]

01:44 PM on 01/23/2012

"Our society" includes many people who don't share your beliefs. Stop being so close-minded and deal with it.

[yevsek hunter]

12:35 AM on 01/24/2012

Dear Arbutus, but the majority do, and you, obviously, can't deal with that. What did I write that is not factual? Please, instead of an ad hominem attack, give us a factual rebutle, if you can.

[LMPE]

11:37 PM on 01/22/2012

Lincy Pandithurai sounds like another person who didn't evolve with the rest of the world.

[Tom Answeeney]

12:26 PM on 01/23/2012

Pandithurai is being fired for being unintentionally rude. That's pretty extreme. And comments like "evolve with the rest of the world" make me think there's a racial motivation hidden in all this.

[LMPE]

03:02 PM on 01/23/2012

All homophobes, regardless of race, need to catch up with the 21st century.

[JDGCSW]

06:35 PM on 01/23/2012

There was nothing unintentional about this. It was three hours of verbal and psychological abuse--to a United States VETERAN--by someone who was supposed to be a mental health professional, and who was operating out of a government facility. If you cannot see how very, very wrong this nurse was, you need both your vision and your mental status checked.

[BczIsSo]

08:05 PM on 01/22/2012

To Erin84 since this set up doesn't allow responses after a few go arounds. By your response you have no idea what PC is do you? You claim PC to be "calling someone african-american instead of the N word"...really? What world do you live in where the media and the general populous has called blacks by the N word in daily society? Let me educate you. PC is when there is a difference in reaction to an act or expressed opinion bcz of the persons skin color, gender or sexual orientation or in simple terms a double standard. If one group does it and it's called hateful and another does the same exact thing and it's applauded and not seen as being malicious bcz of their skin color, gender or sexual orientation that's the bias of PC.

[scooman]

07:59 PM on 01/22/2012

When my company included "sexual orientation" in it's discrimination policy, we had a few operate business as usual. It took a few hard nose bigots getting terminated that the 'phobes started getting in line.

It looks like the same thing is happening here. A few are going to have to get booted out until they realize that DADT is gone. Kind of a sweet justice for all of those kicked out for being gay.