In June, the nurses' association accused Glendining of trying to buy the silence of the hospital's chief nursing officer, Vanessa Burkoski, who came to London after being the longest-serving provincial chief nursing officer, advising three Ontario health ministers.
When Burkoski, who had been a president of the nurses' association, refused to take a payout and resign quietly, she was fired, Grinspun says.
Now the hospital has filed defamation lawsuits against Burkoski, Grinspun and the nurses' association and its lawyer has sent a threatening letter to the new president of the association, Carol Timmings, who will be in London Friday to speak with nurses, Grinspun said.
"Your pre-emptive threat of legal proceedings against Ms. Timmings in your lawyer's letter of October 11, is baseless, abusive, and oppressive.. .. We will not be stifled, silenced nor suppressed, by LHSC or anybody else," Grinspun wrote.
"It is shocking that LHSC is using public funds to pay a private law firm to engage in an aggressive campaign to silence public discussion on important health-care issues."