Sunnybrook hospital parts ways with worker caught on video using ‘racist language’

By: The Canadian Press Posted:

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TORONTO - A Toronto hospital says it has parted ways with an employee who used "racist language" while riding public transit in a standoff caught on camera.

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TORONTO – A Toronto hospital says it has parted ways with an employee who used “racist language” while riding public transit in a standoff caught on camera.

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre says the worker is no longer employed at the hospital after it conducted an investigation into a video that circulated on social media.

The hospital, home to Canada’s largest trauma centre, says it recognizes the harm the incident has caused especially for the organization’s Black staff, patients and supporters.

Ambulances spill out onto the road as they try to navigate the Emergency Department at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto on Tuesday May 4, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn
Ambulances spill out onto the road as they try to navigate the Emergency Department at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto on Tuesday May 4, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

Sunnybrook adds the former employee’s behaviour is inconsistent with its values.

The hospital did not say which video prompted the investigation, but footage filmed on a Toronto subway and shared on social media showed a person wearing a Sunnybrook sweater being confronted by other subway riders after they used derogatory language against Black people.

The video concludes with the person, who identifies themselves as a Sunnybrook employee, appearing to knock the camera out of the hands of the rider recording them. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 15, 2026.

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