John and Terri Hale own The Hale Group, an Ankeny-based advocacy firm focused on older Iowans, Iowans with disabilities and the caregivers who support them. Contact them at terriandjohnhale@gmail.com

Our admiration goes to the Davids of the world: those who stand up, speak out and fight back, refusing to let the Goliaths intimidate or silence them.

A recent example is a story by Clark Kauffman, reporter at the Iowa Capital Dispatch. He detailed the allegations in a lawsuit filed by a former certified nurse aide at a nursing home in Fonda, Iowa. The suit was filed against the Fonda Specialty Care nursing home, its parent company, Care Initiatives, and a licensed practical nurse working at the facility. You can read the April 30 story here.

The suit alleges that a certified nurse aide observed an 87-year-old resident with a tracheostomy struggling to breathe. The aide sought help from the on-duty nurse to suction the resident’s airway. The nurse refused to intervene despite multiple requests from staff members. The aide attempted to contact off-site management but could reach no one. She asked for permission to call 911 and was rebuffed. The resident ultimately died in a manner the lawsuit describes as “agonizing and painful.”

The suit also claims that after the certified nurse aide finished her shift, she received multiple text messages from the facility’s administrator to “keep your mouth shut and keep your opinions to yourself.” She was also instructed not to communicate with the family of the resident who died. The next day, the aide was fired. The facility cited “resident complaints” as the reason. The nurse aide said she was fired for reporting the incident to the state.

KTIV television in Sioux City posted Kauffman’s article on their Facebook page, drawing nearly 600 reactions and 200 comments. Responses were candid and often angry.  A small sample includes:

“I would never put my parents or anybody I know in a nursing home”

“The fact that the nursing home tried to cover it up is just as horrible” (as the death).

“My heart breaks for the family and the aides that witnessed it”

“This makes me sick.”

This makes us sick too. How about you?

Imagine being in the shoes of the staff member who allegedly tried to do the right thing, witnessed a horrible death, was fired by her employer, and then had to decide, “What’s next?”

This nurse’s aide chose not “to keep her mouth shut” but instead to challenge a powerful corporation in court. Some would say that’s a fool’s errand. We view it as an admirable act of courage.

Put this in a larger context. We live in a time where many people, including elected officials, organizations and businesses, find themselves in situations similar to the nurse aide where they are expected to do what they are told and avoid speaking out or acting on what they believe is right. 

Here are recent examples: Legislators who don’t vote the way a governor or president demands. The student on campus who speaks up for Palestinians. The university president or corporate head who doesn’t comply with diversity, equity and inclusion directives. National news organizations that write an editorial or airs programs the powers that be don’t like. Foreign leaders who disagree publicly with a U.S. government representative. Law firms that challenge governmental actions. Entertainers who bring attention to social injustices. The list could go on and on.

It’s not a good time to be an independent thinker, to swim against the tide, or to tell the emperor that they have no clothes.

The message to all the rule-breakers out there is this: Toe the line. Do what you’re told. There will be hell to pay if you disobey.

The fact that it’s not a good time to speak out is why we need people to speak out. We applaud the certified nurse aide and all those like her who are courageously standing up for what they believe. They are making what John Lewis called, “good trouble.”

Davids can and do defeat the Goliaths. Not all the time, not without great difficulty. But is the fight worth fighting? Indeed, it is.

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Top illustration of David and Goliath is by Denis—S, available via Shutterstock.