She went to school to be a surgical tech and loved it, reaching the top of her class and logging double her required hours to be certified. Then an anesthesia student recognized her from the more than 140 adult films she had starred in, and word quickly spread through the hospital staff that there was a porn star among their ranks.
"Everybody wanted me in their room, but they started treating me like [bleep]. They made me feel like I was contaminating everything," says the scorned surgical tech who goes by the stage name Gauge in this article entitled "Fired for doing porn: The new employment discrimination."
By the time she was set to graduate, she says no one at the unnamed hospital would sign off on her required hours. In this YouTube video, Gauge discusses how it's become increasingly difficult for former adult stars to conceal their past from their employers. She says she even spotted OR staff members looking her up on the company computer in the nurse's lounge.
"I probably could have sued, but I was more heartbroken than anything," she says. "It's not like I'm a child molester. It's not like I'm a convicted felon." Gauge is now back in the porn industry after leaving in 2005.
How would you handle such a situation at your facility? Would you hire a qualified and competent person to work in your ORs who had a checkered past? Share your thoughts here.