A vet who claims she was bullied and undermined by colleagues who accused her of ‘killing a dog’ through blunders at work is suing her bosses for £150,000.
Dr Theresa McCann, 45, says she was ‘bullied and harassed’ by being ‘shouted at in a car park’ by colleagues when arriving at work in October 2013, after a Dobermann dog died whilst under her care.
She claims that following jibes about the dog she felt insecure and unsupported and was subjected to an ‘aggressive and threatening management style’, making her fear for her job.
The hostile atmosphere led to her suffering depression, she says, and she is now suing Davies Veterinary Specialists Ltd, based near Hitchin, for up to £150,000 in compensation.
Her bosses at the vets’ practice deny claims she was bullied over the death of the dog and say she was simply ‘upset’ that she had ‘made a mistake’.
Dr Theresa McCann (pictured outside court) says she was ‘bullied and harassed’ by being ‘shouted at in a carpark’ by colleagues when arriving at work in October 2013, after a Dobermann dog died whilst under her care
Dr McCann’s lawyer Joel Kendall said she was working three days a week for the small animal referral practice when she became ‘the subject of a bullying/harassment incident, in the course of which her clinical ability was called into question’.
The barrister told Central London County Court that a ‘confrontation’ took place during which a colleague ‘shouted at her in the public space of the car park on the morning of 11 October 2013, accusing her of killing a dog with the approach she had taken to the case.’
‘This was oppressive and unacceptable conduct, likely to cause her distress,’ Mr Kendall said.
‘Following the incident, and the criticism… there was a lack of assessment of Ms McCann’s management of the case,’ he added.
‘She needed positive reassurance in relation to her clinical skills, and, it is submitted… made it clear how important the reassurance was.’
Speaking in court, Dr McCann, from Hartington, told the judge that after the ‘dog event’ she was greeted when she arrived at work by three colleagues ‘shouting at me about my management of the case.’
‘I couldn’t even get out of the car,’ she said, explaining that she was ‘yelled at openly in a carpark’ by two fellow vets, then had a third ‘criticising my case management’ when she entered the practice.
The hostile atmosphere led to her suffering depression, she says, and she is now suing Davies Veterinary Specialists Ltd (pictured), based near Hitchin, for up to £150,000 in compensation
‘I lost my confidence because they wouldn’t reassure me that I hadn’t killed that dog,’ she said. ‘They were not supportive over the whole incident.’
‘I felt that I was threatened.’
In a letter to bosses, she told them: ‘Many times your choice of management style has been detrimental to my health. I felt that your management style was aggressive and threatening.’
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She told the judge her treatment at worked caused her a ‘depressive condition’ characterised by ‘fluctuations in her mood’.
She felt there was a ‘lack of support generally’ at work and that she suffered ‘anxiety that a disciplinary might be just around the corner.’
‘Why was I not told that my job was not at risk if they had no interest in sacking me?’ she said.
‘We needed to make sure that I was not going to be treated in the he same way. I was asking to be treated in a different manner.’
Pictured: Animal internal medicine specialist Dr Theresa McCann
Mr Kendall said Dr McCann had previously worked part-time for the practice, but in 2013 she went to three-day weeks after being diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome.
Between September and December 2013, she had been put under pressure to return full-time, with ‘constant highlighting of the burden’ she was creating for colleagues by not working full weeks, he said.
However, she could not work full-time because she was ill and there was no way she could change that, he said.
But Catherine Foster, cross-examining Ms McCann on behalf of the vets’ practice, told her: ‘Your perception of the dog incident had evolved. You being upset that you made a mistake turned into you attributing motives to people that were not there.
‘You felt bad about having put the dog down. For you to attempt to pin your troubles and your mood fluctuations on certain events in a work context is misconceived.’
The doctor accused of berating Dr McCann in the car park also denied her account of what happened, although did admit to being ‘direct’ with advice at times, the judge was told.
Their conversations about the case took place ‘in the context of providing advice at her request for the treatment of a dog, and amounted to no more than ordinary workplace interaction,’ said Mrs Foster.
‘Insofar as Dr McCann may have disagreed with that approach or vice versa, this cannot be characterised as harassment,’ she added.
She said it was also reasonable for her bosses to think she was fit to work three days and was keen to go back to full-time gradually.
‘It is denied that she was put under pressure to return to work in a full-time capacity or that any action taken gave rise to a risk that she would sustain injury,’ she said.
The judge will give her ruling in the case at a later date.
Source: Daily Mail
