California healthcare workers who were fired for posting a TikTok video mocking patients may be able to sue for wrongful termination.
The now-deleted video shows the former employees pointing and making faces at what appears to be lubricant on an exam table paper.
@sansumclinic Why do your employees think it’s ok to pose next to and post patients bodily fluids on the internet? pic.twitter.com/SNBdELHdTX
— isabella (@isatinee) September 1, 2025
The video sparked backlash on social media. Sutter Health, which is partnered with Sansum Clinic in Santa Barbara, placed the workers on leave and then fired them.
On Wednesday, Sutter Health wrote on social media:
“Sutter Health has terminated the employees responsible for the inappropriate and insensitive photos posted on social media. This unacceptable behavior is an outright violation of our policies, shows a lack of respect for our patients and will not be tolerated.”
In a now-deleted post on Reddit.com, a relative of one of the terminated employees says the healthcare workers smeared lubricant on the exam paper themselves. The user said no patients were in the facility at the time when the TikTok video was made.
In the above photo, an unidentified former employee poses with what appears to be lubricant smeared on exam paper. The photo supports the Reddit user’s claim that the table hadn’t been used by a patient.
The table would be flat and the exam paper would be very wrinkled if a patient used it for a Pap smear procedure.
The photo may be in bad taste and unprofessional, but it is not a violation of HIPAA laws for a healthcare worker to smear lubricant on exam paper.
Many media outlets reported that patients left “bodily fluids” behind on the exam table.
Lubricant is not a “bodily fluid.” Lubricant is a not a fluid produced by the body.
Sutter Health may be liable for wrongful termination lawsuits if the healthcare workers smeared lubricant on the exam table to make TikTok videos after hours (when no patients were in the facility).
