Former Chelsea first team doctor Eva Carneiro has rejected a £1.2m
settlement from the club, as she brings separate legal action against Jose
Mourinho for calling her "daughter of a whore".
She is claiming constructive dismissal.
According to her, the former manager called her "daughter of a
whore" in Portuguese when she treated a player.
Lawyers for Chelsea revealed that she chose to take the case to a hearing
rather than accept the payout.
Dr Carneiro, 42, alleges the comment was made by Mr Mourinho, who left
Chelsea in December, when she ran on to the pitch at Stamford Bridge during a
Premier League match against Swansea in August to treat injured forward Eden
Hazard.
She is claiming sex discrimination and harassment against the club's former
manager following the incident and constructive dismissal against Chelsea.
"This is
a tale of two employees, one good (Dr Carneiro) and one bad (Mr
Mourinho)," said Mary O'Rourke QC, appearing for the claimant
"The bad employee forces the good employee out of the job of her dreams
and the employer does nothing to stop it.
"The bad employee berates, sexually harassed and demoted the good employee
for carrying out her professional duties, namely her health and safety duties
as the first team doctor, pitch-side.
"Rather than investigating and disciplining the bad employee, the
employer allows the bad employee to confirm demotion... and to continue with
his job."
Documents submitted by Dr Carneiro's legal team allege Mr Mourinho - now
manager of Manchester United - suggested she should work with Chelsea Ladies
following the Swansea game.
They allege that on 10 August Mr Mourinho told Steve Atkins, head of
communications and PR at Chelsea, that he did not want the first team doctor on
the bench at the next match, saying: "She works in academy team or ladys
(sic) team not with me".
They also claim Chelsea took no action following complaints about sexually
explicit chanting at various away games - in particular at Manchester United
and West Ham - and a lack of female changing facilities.
Dr Carneiro claims she was not provided with a club suit, and regularly had
to endure sexually explicit comments from her colleagues.
She also alleges she was called a "filha da puta" - Portuguese for
"daughter of a whore" - during the Swansea game by Mr Mourinho and
that she was verbally abused after the match when the team returned to their
dressing room.
"As she
ran on to the pitch she heard clearly from behind her the words filha da
puta," said Mary O'Rourke QC, for the claimant.
"She's a Portuguese speaker. It was not filho da puta, it was filha da
puta… you say filha da puta when you are denigrating a woman. He is saying it
to the back of the claimant who is doing something he didn't like… that is the
context."
However, Daniel Stilitz QC, for Chelsea, said Mr Mourinho's evidence was
that he shouted 'filho da puta'.
"Filho da puta is a phrase he often uses," Mr Stilitz said, adding
that it meant son of a bitch. "There is no sexist connotation."
He said that Mr Mourinho used the phrase frequently at the training ground
and during matches.
The FA ruled
on 30 September 2015 that "the words used do not constitute discriminatory
language" after consulting an independent academic expert in Portuguese
linguistics.
Dr Carneiro was "preoccupied with developing her profile" and
associating herself with the first team in a way discouraged by the club for
backroom employees, Chelsea's legal team added.
This involved signing autographs and having photographs taken with members
of the public, nominating a high-profile first-team player when she uploaded a
video to YouTube as part of the "Ice Bucket Challenge", and seeking
to position herself behind Mr Mourinho during televised matches.
0 comments:
Post a Comment