The Western Cape Labour Court has upheld the dismissal of a Hermanus doctor for alleged cocaine use, disagreeing with the arbitrator’s finding that it was procedurally unfair.
The Cape Argus reports that disciplinary records revealed that the doctor had, at times, used the drug, thus posing a threat to patients.
The review application was launched by the Western Cape Department of Health.
The arbitrator had ruled that the dismissal of the doctor on 29 February 2020 was substantively and procedurally unfair and awarded him six months’ remuneration as compensation.
But Labour Court Judge Robert Lagrange said the doctor’s “misconduct was inherently serious and posed an imminent threat to patients, the liability of the department, and himself”.
During his disciplinary proceedings, the doctor refused to undergo a test to prove he was not under the influence of an addictive drug and further failed to provide proof of his prescriptions for medication.
Lagrange said: “It is untenable on the evidence of the high risks (the doctor) posed, that the arbitrator could have formed a view that his conduct was less serious than that, and that dismissal was an unfair sanction.”
During arbitration proceedings, the doctor admitted that he was under the influence of an intoxicating substance, but qualified his admission by stating it was his prescription medication, for epilepsy and mood disorder.
The judgment read: “The arbitrator noted that the evidence of all of the employer’s witnesses showed that the doctor was using cocaine and that he had never told the chairperson of the inquiry that he had only used it in December 2015.
“The arbitrator concluded that … he was most likely intoxicated during the incidents of 2019 based on the observations of … witnesses’ and that it was possibly due to his use of cocaine, these circumstances being that the applicant refused to subject himself to a urine/blood test and his failure to present a medical script for the medication he was taking, nor a medical certificate confirming his illnesses.”
An expert witness testified that on a maintenance dose, the medicine the doctor claimed he was taking would not cause drowsiness. A nursing manager testified that on two separate occasions, he “was unsteady on his feet and in a confused state”.
“On all occasions when she had observed him in this condition, he had a white substance around his mouth…” the record read.
The doctor’s submission was that a white substance observed on his lips was a result of chewing peppermints, however, the nursing manager testified that “everyone at the hospital chewed peppermints but that did not result in a white powder residue on their lips”.
Lagrange said: “The arbitrator’s findings on the substantive and procedural fairness of the dismissal are ones that no reasonable arbitrator could have reached and the award must be set aside.”
Cape Argus PressReader article – Court upholds dismissal of doctor with drug issues (Open access)
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