A nurse who commented with vomiting emojis on an LGBTQ+ pride Facebook post has avoided suspension. George Eduard Stae told a misconduct hearing he was a ‘keyboard warrior’ and would ‘lash out’ online due to his ‘personal situation’.
Incident details
In an informal meeting with his employer, Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, after the comment, Mr Stae said he found the Facebook advert, which included a picture of a man wearing high-heeled shoes and head jewellery, ‘disturbing’. He admitted commenting 10 emojis of vomiting and nauseating faces on the post on International Children’s Day, June 1, 2021, because he disliked how Pride appeared to have taken over Facebook on that day.
Additional allegations withdrawn
It was also alleged that Mr Stae told a doctor ‘I will kill you’ and called him a ‘f****** Muslim’ in an incident on November 27, 2022. However, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) withdrew those charges after the panel ruled hearsay evidence from the doctor was not admissible.
Panel ruling
The panel found Mr Stae’s Facebook comment was ‘prejudicial and discriminatory’ and ruled he had committed misconduct. Mr Stae told the panel he realised his comment was ‘completely wrong and inappropriate’. He said: ‘It was brought to my attention at work and I was very ashamed of my behaviour, especially because I have many friends and colleagues that have a different sexual orientation than me and I never had an issue with that.’
While the NMC argued for a six-month suspension, the panel deemed it ‘wholly disproportionate’. Instead, Mr Stae received a 12-month caution order, recorded on the register to mark that his behaviour was unacceptable and must not happen again.
