I was a Bright-Eyed Black Physician. Then the System Broke Me.

How Sun Life turned my protected disability leave into a weapon — and why I’m speaking out.

I’m a triple board-certified neurologist.

I’ve taken care of patients in the ICU, stroke centers, trauma wards, psych units. I know what crisis looks like.

What I didn’t expect was to become the crisis.

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In 2024, I accepted a hospital job with a large Catholic health ministry. I was eager. Grateful, even. A “great fit.” They called me passionate, principled, brilliant. I believed them.

I moved across the country to serve a medically underserved community. I showed up early. I volunteered for hospital call. I stepped up when others quit. I gave everything I had to that job.

And in return?

I was gaslit. Sabotaged. Retaliated against until I broke.

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When I finally took protected leave under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), it wasn’t because I wanted time off. It was because I couldn’t function anymore. I had been psychologically brutalized by the very people who claimed to serve the poor and the vulnerable.

But I thought: Okay. I’ll rest. I’ll heal. I have short-term disability coverage. My doctor submitted the paperwork. It was approved.

And for a moment, I exhaled.

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That moment didn’t last.

Because my “safety net” — my disability insurer, Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada — turned out to be just another instrument of retaliation.

They approved the claim. They acknowledged my treatment. They had my doctor’s notes. They had everything.

Then they ghosted me.

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When I followed up, they stopped replying.

When I escalated, they locked me out of the portal.

When I finally saw what they filed in federal court, I realized the truth:

They lied.

They said I claimed I was ready to return to work.

They pretended my emails didn’t exist.

They filed a legal answer designed to undermine my credibility and justify nonpayment — all while I was in care.

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It was deliberate.

It was coordinated.

It was cruel.

And I am done staying quiet about it.

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I’m speaking out because I know how this game works.

Because I used to be the calm, composed physician reassuring patients that “everything will be handled.”

But what happens when the system is what’s hurting you?

What happens when your employer breaks you — and your disability insurer holds the shovel?

What happens when the portal goes silent, the payments stop, and the legal filings misrepresent your truth?

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Here’s what happens: You fight anyway.

Even while grieving your own unraveling.

You learn the law. You file the complaints. You chase the truth because you have to.

Because if this can happen to me — a Black woman doctor who knows how to write, how to document, how to scream into legal systems and not stop — then what happens to everyone else?

What happens to the people without the credentials, the time, the proof?

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That’s why I’m writing this.

Because silence is what they count on.

Because erasure is the final tactic in their playbook.

But I’m still here.

And I’m not done.

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