Dr Joseph Chikelue Obi - GMC Racism Review Roundup - Case Number 1 : Suspended Ethnic Minority Doctor Wins Huge Settlement At Employment Tribunal
I sincerely hope that the Ethnic Minority Doctor (involved in this case) duly realizes that he can now additionally sue the General Medical Council at that very same Employment Tribunal too.
Case : Dr Imraan Jhetam (Senior Police Surgeon) v The Police plus Judge Paul Darlow (it seems) and the General Medical Council.
Outcome : Dr Imraan Jhetam (Senior Police Surgeon) wins substantial compensation at Employment Tribunal.
Source: Plymouth Herald (Newspaper) , United Kingdom
Weblink : Click Here
Detail : A SENIOR police surgeon who used to work for Devon Constabulary has settled a racism case after claiming that security vetting discriminated against non white doctors.
Dr Imraan Jhetam, 48, said vetting by MI5 had stopped some black doctors from working for the police, but had not barred a single white candidate.
Dr Jhetam has agreed an undisclosed settlement after he was dismissed from the Avon and Somerset police.
An employment tribunal heard how he was dismissed after failing to disclose a warning from the General Medical Council while being vetted for the job as forensic medical examiner.
In November 10, 2006 he was warned about the quality of his work and told he needed to improve parts of his practice, including resuscitation.
Dr Jhetam was claiming racial discrimination and his barrister Miss Debbie Grennan said he had several grounds for his case.
She said Avon and Somerset informed other forces about his suspension, reported him to the GMC and mounted a criminal investigation into his conduct.
Dr Jhetam, who also worked for Devon and Cornwall, Norfolk and Lancashire police, told the tribunal he did not declare his GMC warning during vetting because he did not think it relevant to security.
He said:"The warning from the GMC was in the public domain on their website and therefore it was not something I would be open to be blackmailed with.
"I do not believe there was any omission in my vetting document."
Mr Jim Arnold, for the police authority, questioned Dr Jhetam over his claims that the vetting process is discriminatory.
He disputed the doctor's statement which said:"Clearly only non-whites were refused clearance while those of white origin were routinely allowed to work."
Mr Arnold pointed out that Dr Jhetam and other non white doctors were also cleared through vetting and that other cases were delayed by the need to make checks abroad.
Mr Arnold also suggested there had been complaints about the standard of Dr Jhetam's work while he was with the police.
South African born Dr Jhetam, from Exeter, has already been at the centre of one race row when a judge was forced to explain remarks he made in court.
Judge Paul Darlow questioned why 36-year-old Matthew Stiddard had been taken to Exeter Crown Court for telling the police surgeon:"F**k off you Paki, I want an English doctor not a f**king Paki".
Stiddard escaped with a conditional discharge and £45 costs for racially aggravated abusive behaviour.
The judge told him:"Next time call him a fat bastard and do not say anything about his colour."
Dr Jhetam is currently suspended by the GMC under an order made by an Interim Panel on May 29 this year.
An earlier order was made shortly after his dismissal from the Avon and Somerset police in August last year which required him to disclose his GMC warning to any future employers.
Ethical Commentary from Dr Joseph Chikelue Obi :
" This is yet another classical example of how the Police shamelessly team up with the GMC ; to horrifically wreck the livelihoods of Ethnic Minority Doctors in the UK . . .
The Medical Licensing Commission would have happily (and freely) assisted the Suspended Doctor at all levels in this regard - if he was registered with the MLC at the time these events took place ; as all Registrants with the Medical Licensing Commission (MLC) are comprehensively entitled to Free Lifelong Professional (and Administrative) Representation at Employment Tribunal Cases involving the GMC.
As for the utterly insensitive Judge Paul Darlow - who jokingly encouraged a White Racist to call the Poor Ethnic Minority Doctor a Fat Bastard (instead of a F***ing Paki) . . . {*Shock !!!} {*Horror !!!} {*Gasp !!!} . . . We should very well pray that Boss Dale Simon of the Office for Judicial Complaints (OJC) has since been formally petitioned over the incident . . . "
The GMC Racism Review Roundup is an ethical monthly collection of Headline-Making Racism Cases where the General Medical Council is actively (or passively) mentioned as an alleged aggressor.
At the end of each particular case , Firebrand Black British Anti-Racism Campaigner , Dr Joseph Chikelue Obi , will be asked how he would handle the matter ; in his current capacity as Chief Regulator of the Medical Licensing Commission .