KOHTLA-JÄRVE, Estonia — A hospital in Kohtla-Järve, located in northeast Estonia, has fired an orthopedic surgeon after he threw a 14-year-old boy’s passport into a bin because the boy could not speak Estonian and answered questions in Russian.

In an explanatory letter, surgeon Eiki Strauss cited the country’s language law to explain the incident, which happened in a region of Estonia where Russian is widely spoken.

Strauss argued that the because the boy did not speak the state language, he therefore should not hold Estonian citizenship.

Estonian residents are expected to be able to speak the state language, Estonian, a requirement for citizenship. About 15 percent of Estonian residents, mostly Russian speakers, are not citizens despite living in Estonia for many years.

The outburst comes in a long line of incidents stemming from ethnic tension within the country.

Medical professionals in Estonia have lambasted the behavior, saying that it is an isolated case.

“This is not the behavior of a medical person and not of a doctor,” Health Care Board director Üllar Kaljumäe told Baltic Reports. “This is very unusual because this is unexpected and unbelievable behavior – this seems to be something personal between these two people and I don’t think it reflects common feelings and attitudes between doctors and people.”

The Social Ministry, which is responsible for health care in the country, told Baltic Reports that it regrets the situation and hopes it is an isolated incident.

“The ministry hopes that it never happens again because the hospital fired the doctor,” Jana Zdanovitš, adviser on Media Relations at the Social Ministry said.

The incident occurred when the patient went to the hospital and consulted the surgeon about his injured leg.

Kaljumäe said the Health Care Board is waiting for police to decide on the case before they would action.

The incident was being considered as crimes against the state for desecration of state documents, but was declared not to be a criminal case after it was found that the documents hadn’t been damaged.

Kaljumäe said he expects Strauss to sue the hospital over his sacking.