Former Kelowna nurse made racist remarks and advocated violence: college

A former Kelowna nurse accused of saying that wearing a mask was “horse shit” has been found to have committed professional misconduct, but not for any of his comments about COVID.

According to a Feb. 2 BC College of Nurses and Midwives decision, the regulator found Sean Taylor made comments that advocated for violence and were racist.

However, the College’s adjudicator found that comments he’d made about COVID had been taken out of context by the regulator.

The adjudicator found that Taylor’s comment that he wanted to go down to the U.S. and “play paintball” was a euphemism for shooting people, and that it didn’t matter that he said he was joking when he made the comment.

“(Taylor) as a private citizen is entitled to publicly express his views and opinions,” the decision reads.

“However, as a member of a regulated profession, he also has duties and obligations to ensure that the expression of those views accords with the BC College of Nurses and Midwives’ professional standards, whether he is on or off duty.”

Taylor made headlines during the pandemic when he identified himself as a nurse and spoke on numerous podcasts.

A couple of years prior to that, Taylor had spoken to Global News outside Kelowna General Hospital dressed in scrubs and wearing a stethoscope, after news came out about allegations of ER staff betting on the alcohol levels of Indigenous patients. Taylor had said the allegations were having a negative impact on medical staff.

In 2022, the College took disciplinary actions against him, accusing the nurse of making racist comments and spreading disinformation about COVID.

While most nurses sign a consent agreement and sit out a suspension, Taylor fought the allegations and took them to a seven-day hearing, which resulted in a 181-page decision.

The adjudicator said it must balance the right to free speech against Taylor’s obligations as a nurse.

The College accused Taylor of saying that wearing a mask was “horse shit” and that they was was no COVID at the Kelowna hospital or where he worked in the Kootenays.

Taylor argued his comment had been taken out of context, and the adjudicator agreed.

He said he was referring to the flip-flopping on mask guidance by public health officials, and that when he was at those hospitals, there were no COVID cases.

The adjudicator also said his comments about internment camps had been taken out of context.

However, comments about “playing paintball” and “doing it the old-fashioned way” were seen as advocating violence.

“The (adjudicator) finds that these statements sent a message to the public that (Taylor), a nurse, was prepared to engage in violent behaviour against those with whom he disagrees.

“It does not matter whether (he) intended the statements in jest, or if they were made in good faith or as a matter of common sense, they remain comments that could be reasonably perceived by members of the public to mean that (he)… views using violent behaviour, as an appropriate way to resolve disagreement.”

The adjudicator also found his comments that patients were making allegations of racism because they did not “get what they want” was a “racially insensitive remark.”

“This comment sends the message to the public that people, including nurses, operating within the public health apparatus, harbour harmful stereotypes about Indigenous persons. It is a discriminatory statement,” the decision reads.

The decision says Taylor gave up nursing in March 2022.

Any penalties he faces will be decided at a later date.