Nurse sues hospital after suspension over alleged surgeon remarks about Charlie Kirk killing

A nurse at Englewood Health in New Jersey said she was suspended without pay after confronting a surgeon who allegedly celebrated the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, and has filed a wrongful‑termination lawsuit against the hospital and the physician.

Lexi Kuenzle, 33, said the incident occurred after news broke that Kirk, 31, had been shot while answering a question during a campus event and later pronounced dead. Kuenzle told reporters she and several colleagues were standing at a nurse’s station when she reacted to the news and a general surgeon she identified as Dr. Matthew Jung responded, according to her account, by saying he "hated" Kirk and that the activist "had it coming" and "deserved it." Kuenzle said she reported Jung to hospital management and later posted about the exchange on her personal Instagram account.

Kuenzle said she was called into a human resources meeting the next day and was informed she would be suspended without pay while the hospital investigated the incident. Kuenzle, who has worked in nursing for about a decade and nearly two years at Englewood Health, said a union representative emailed her that the matter was "extremely serious" and advised that the posting and the disagreement in front of an awake patient could lead to termination. Kuenzle filed a lawsuit Friday in Bergen County Superior Court seeking unspecified damages and alleging she was wrongfully fired for publicly criticizing Jung’s comments on her private social media account.

Court filings cited by Kuenzle say she questioned how Jung could reconcile the alleged remarks with medical ethics and the Hippocratic Oath. The filings also state that Jung offered to "buy lunch" for the nurses who overheard the alleged remarks, but that Kuenzle would have been excluded from any such gesture because she had been suspended.

The lawsuit names both Englewood Health and Dr. Jung as defendants. It contends Kuenzle was punished for speaking out about what she described as a physician's celebration of a murder. The filing and Kuenzle’s public statements characterize Jung’s comments as made in the presence of patients and staff at a nurse’s station.

Englewood Health did not immediately respond to requests for comment. It was not clear from court records made public Friday whether Dr. Jung has faced separate disciplinary action by the hospital or any licensing authority.

The killing that prompted the exchange occurred during an on‑campus event at Utah Valley University. Authorities arrested a 22‑year‑old man, identified in reporting as Tyler Robinson, after a tip from family members. Robinson was taken into custody the night after the shooting, and law enforcement said he was arrested in connection with the attack. Political leaders and commentators reacted in statements after the shooting; former President Donald Trump said he wanted the shooter to face the death penalty and described Kirk as "the finest person." Kirk was reported to be a father of two.

Kuenzle’s complaint and public posts include references to her political views and images on social media. The lawsuit asserts the hospital’s response to her report and subsequent suspension were retaliatory and contends the disciplinary action violated her rights. Hospital officials and the named physician have not publicly addressed the specifics of the suit in the filings.

The case adds to questions about workplace conduct and free‑speech boundaries in health‑care settings when employees speak publicly about colleagues’ statements. The hospital’s investigation into the original exchange, which Englewood Health described to Kuenzle as standard procedure, remains ongoing, according to her account and the court filing.