Cardiologist R1m poorer after firing protege
A veteran cardiologist hardened his heart against a young doctor who once saw him as a mentor, and now his “malicious manner” has cost him more than R1m.
Andre Saaiman, who practises at a Cape Town private hospital, has been ordered to pay the money to his former employee, Lou Hofmeyr, as compensation for unfair dismissal.
Cape Town labour court acting judge Bradley Conradie said Saaiman, 64, threatened his protege before firing him on the spot when he heard rumours that Hofmeyr was jobhunting in 2017.
Hofmeyr told the court his firing from Saaiman’s practice at Netcare Kuils River left him “humiliated”.
“I was in turmoil. I felt that my reputation had been seriously harmed. I kept wondering what all the other cardiologists would say,” he said.
“Cardiology is a small circle, which means that you are constantly in the eye. I did not know what to do.
“The day after, I made an AZ
list of possible places to work and started calling each one and tried to pick up a locum.”
The month after being fired, Hofmeyr joined a cardiology practice at Panorama Mediclinic, but he told the judge he had even considered locums in Dubai and Singapore after his nine-year-old child asked if he had been fired.
In his judgment on Tuesday, Conradie said Hofmeyr’s first job as a fully fledged cardiologist was in Saaiman’s practice early in 2012.
After a year at a hospital in Australia, he rejoined Saaiman’s SA Endovascular Group Practice on the “loose understanding” he would take over when his mentor retired.
“According to Dr Hofmeyr, during 2015 the relationship began to sour due to differences in their approach to medical practice, Dr Saaiman’s volatile character traits and a number of failed attempts by Dr Hofmeyr to ascertain his future prospects and career growth within the practice,” Conradie said.
“It was at this time that Dr Hofmeyr started making inquiries for positions at other medical institutions.”
On April 28 2017, Saaiman confronted Hofmeyr with a rumour that he was moving to Panorama Mediclinic, and said he would either have to sign a restraint-of-trade agreement preventing him doing so or leave immediately.
Four days later he fired him and paid him a month’s salary — R257,000 — in lieu of notice.
Judge Conradie said Saaiman had acted in anger and disappointment.
“He was outraged,” he said. “He proceeded to terminate Dr Hofmeyr’s employment in a most undignified manner.”
Three days later, Saaiman sent a letter to Hofmeyr that contained “a personal attack on [him] and his professional abilities”, Conradie said.
The judge awarded Hofmeyr four months’ compensation totalling R1,028,639. —
‘Cardiology is a small circle, which means that you are constantly in the eye. I did not know what to do’
Lou Hofmeyr DOCTOR