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| Surgeon loses claim
for £125,000 in pay |
Appeal after tribunal rules he was
owed only £29,000
Dr Gyandev Sheth |
AN eye surgeon who believes he is owed £125,000 in back
pay for time spent on-call learned on Friday that he will receive
less than a quarter of that figure.
Dr Gyandev Sheth earned £49,000 basic salary in his staff
grade role – a post below that of a consultant – in the
ophthalmology department at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in Smithfield.
Nine months into his contract he received a letter by courier effectively
ending his employment with the hospital. The letter expressed “concerns”
that he had not been able to “fulfil the requirements of the
post completely”.
Dr Sheth, from Wembley, took St Bartholomew’s Hospital to an
industrial tribunal in February this year, claiming he had been
unfairly dismissed, discriminated against on grounds of his race
and sex and that his contract of employment had been breached.
The tribunal threw out the discrimination and unfair dismissal claims,
but decided his contract had been breached.
Chairman Stephen Bedeau said then: “We have come to the conclusion
that the principal reason for terminating the claimant’s employment
was his performance and interpersonal skills. Race was not a factor.”
The tribunal heard that Dr Sheth worked 2,992 hours on call in one
year without pay while negotiations progressed on what he should
be paid.
The time Dr Sheth spent on call, often in excess of 100 hours a
week, was on top of his contracted 40 hours a week. Dr Sheth had
to spend many nights away from his family in hospital accommodation.
On Friday both sides involved in the tribunal met at Victory House
in Holborn to thrash out how much Dr Sheth is owed. Dr Sheth maintains
he should have been paid at £40 per hour for the on-call work,
the same rate as a colleague. He claims this rate had already been
agreed.
On that basis, Dr Sheth would have been due in the region of £125,000.
But the earlier tribunal found there was “no parity” between
the colleague cited and Dr Sheth, who mainly did surgical work and
required supervision.
That tribunal considered Dr Sheth’s work “low intensity”
and decided – under the Whitley pay scales used in the NHS
– that he should be paid by “sessions” rather than
on an hourly rate.
The February tribunal found Dr Sheth had worked 374 sessions and
that he should be paid a tenth of his weekly salary per session.
The agreed figure was £35,000, minus interest, which left
£29,000 for 2,992 hours worked.
In July, the hospital sent Dr Sheth a cheque for that sum. Dr Sheth,
who has not been able to work since he was dismissed in August 2003
and who claims to be suffering from health problems, cashed the
cheque.
Representing himself at Friday’s hearing, Dr Sheth said he
had cashed the cheque on the expectation that he would receive the
rest after winning his case.
He insisted: “The calculation is wrong. I was told I would
be paid £40 per hour.”
Hospital general manager George Woodman said: “There is no
doubt in my mind the amount is correct. Our calculation is completely
consistent with the tribunal’s original judgment.”
Tina Elliot, the hospital’s solicitor, said Friday’s tribunal
had been a complete waste of time.
She added: “Dr Sheth has brought us all here just because he
is angry about the original decision.
“He has behaved unreasonably throughout. Despite the original
tribunal’s judgment, which clearly laid out a methodology for
the payment, he has continued with his claim. This was always just
a question of arithmetic.”
Ms Elliot pressed for costs, despite hearing that Dr Sheth had spiralling
family debt, a considerable mortgage, a dependent child, a retired
wife and no income. He was ordered to pay costs of £1,000.
A defiant Dr Sheth said afterwards: “I will go to an employment
appeals tribunal.” Dr Sheth’s appeal is due to be heard
on November 29. |
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