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A consultant has accused an NHS trust of forcing him into slavery after making a baseless and racist accusation of fraud against him that was later dismissed.
Dr Shankar Chappiti has filed a complaint with the Birmingham Labor Court regarding the managers of New Cross Hospital, part of the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust.
The ophthalmologist alleged that his managers behaved in a threatening and intimidating manner towards him and forced him into slavery or forced labor while displaying racist stereotypes.
In his complaint, Chappiti alleged that in 2014, he began holding additional clinics on Saturdays to help his department clear its waiting list. In early 2018, his senior management accused him of committing £ 56,000 of fraud by not seeing enough patients at each clinic.
He said he was told the level of fraud was a prison offense and would likely result in his removal from the medical record.
He also claimed that he was told this would lead to a “terrible future for his family”; his children “would not have their father around and there would be no income to pay the family mortgage.” He was also told, he said, that this would “embarrass his parents,” a statement he claimed was based on racist stereotypes.
Chappiti said his managers told him he needed to keep his additional clinics unpaid for a year to “pay” for the fraud. She claimed that she was told to “keep [his] closed mouth ”and not talking to anyone about the arrangement.
Chappiti claimed that unpaid work amounted to modern slavery under the Modern Slavery Act of 2015 and the European Convention on Human Rights.
In August 2018, Chappiti said he met with another senior manager, whom he told about the arrangement. The unpaid clinics were halted the following week, but a formal investigation into Chappiti was launched, ultimately deciding that he had no case to answer.
Chappiti is now asking the court for a statement that he was forced to participate in modern slavery and financial compensation.
The experience, Chappiti said, led to him being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression.
Chappiti said the trust, where he has worked for 18 years, discriminated against him because of his race and subjected him to race-related harassment, creating an “intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating and offensive environment” for him.
He also alleged that the trust made unauthorized deductions from his salary and leaked details of the fraud allegation to the press.
“I feel used, disappointed and ashamed of myself because I did not stand up to them,” he said. “It seems illogical that someone as experienced as I could be bullied, but I think I was attacked precisely because I am not a troublemaker: I just keep treating my patients.”
Richard Port, Chappiti’s attorney at the Boardside law firm, filed a complaint with the court in May. A date for the hearing has not yet been set.
Port said: “This is an astonishing case, presenting allegations of racial discrimination, whistle-blowing and even modern slavery (in the sense of forced labor) from a consultant ophthalmologist from British India to a large NHS foundation.
“Modern slavery is a scourge, rearing its ugly head in surprising places and unexpected circumstances,” said Port, who instructed attorney Sheryn Omeri, a specialist in discrimination law at Cloisters Chambers in London, to fight the case. .
A spokesperson for the Royal Wolverhampton NHS trust said: “We can confirm that Dr. Chappiti has filed a complaint with the labor court. The trust denies the affirmations made and defends the complaint ”.
