Top woman doctor awarded a staggering £4.5 MILLION after being hounded out of her job when she had a baby
A top woman doctor has been awarded a staggering £4.5million compensation after being hounded out of her job when she had a baby.
The whopping payout is enough to pay the salaries of 210 nurses earning an entry-level salary of £21,176.
Dr Eva Michalak, 53, was the first consultant physician at Pontefract General Infirmary to take maternity leave.
But senior doctors turned on her because of the pregnancy and invented spurious allegations to force her out.
The £90,000-per-year consultant was sacked after enduring a five-year campaign of harassment.
The doctor’s husband Dr Julian DeHavilland, 44, had told the hearing his wife was unable to carry out everyday tasks and was reluctant to leave the house.
Experts said it was unlikely she would completely recover.
A tribunal ruled yesterday that Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust - who are having to make £31million in efficiency savings - must payout a whopping £4,452,206.60 in compensation.
In a damning judgement, the tribunal in Leeds, West Yorkshire, said it had been ‘outraged’ at the way senior staff had behaved towards Polish born Dr Michalak.
While she was away she was subjected to a horrendous campaign of harassment and colleagues falsely claimed she had bullied junior doctors.
They appointed a locum to cover a workload and nine staff were awarded a pay rise to cover her extra responsibilities while she was away.
After returning to work Dr Michalak was repeatedly suspended before being dismissed in July 2008 for no reason.
A tribunal last year found she had faced unlawful sex and race discrimination.
Yesterday she was awarded £1.1million for loss of past and future earnings plus £660,000 for loss of pension.
She was also awarded a cash payout for injury to her feelings and psychiatric injuries. Exemplary damages were also awarded against the Trust.
Dr Michalak had claimed damages of more than £9m.