Racism smear surgeon wins £102,000 for unfair dismissal
A SURGEON, alleged by his colleagues to be a racist after he raised concerns about Asian doctors, has won a £102,000 payout for unfair dismissal.
Peter Duffy, 56, was falsely accused of racism in a poison-pen letter which was sent to police that claimed that all ethnic minority doctors at one hospital were “in fear of him”.
The consultant urologist at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary (RLI) said he was subjected to “malicious, toxic and utterly false” allegations over a 10-year period and he was warned to “watch his back” over his whistle-blowing.
He sued University Hospitals Morecambe Bay NHS Trust for unfair dismissal after resigning in 2016, alleging that he was the victim of a “witch hunt”, which the trust denied.
The tribunal found Mr Duffy was unfairly dismissed, but ruled his whistleblowing did not play a role in him losing his job.
Before the anonymous letter was sent, Mr Duffy had reported one Indian doctor for missing “several” cancers and also for playing a round of golf when he had been called to a patient with a suspected “flesh-eating” virus.
Mr Duffy also claimed two other colleagues – one from India and another from Pakistan – had tried to “suppress discussion” over the avoidable death of a man with sepsis, and they had also bungled operations and were involved in possible overtime fraud.
It was claimed that one of the doctors vowed that Mr Duffy would be “taught a lesson”, while another was said to be “spitting blood” after being suspended. Mr Duffy said senior managers at the trust “treated him like he’d got the Ebola virus” on his last day.
David Frainey, an employment judge, found the trust to be in breach of contract over employment issues including pay. He ruled Mr Duffy should receive £10,298.50 as a “basic award” for unfair dismissal plus £78,962 compensation and he ordered the trust to pay him £12,950 following unlawful deductions in his pay.