William Edis QC, with Adam Ohringer of Cloisters, successfully resisted an appeal to the Supreme Court by the General Medical Council. They were instructed for the claimant by RadcliffesLeBrasseur, Leeds.
The case was brought in the Employment Tribunal by Dr. Michalak, who alleged that the GMC had discriminated unlawfully against her when investigating and pursuing complaints made by and against her. The GMC proceedings were ultimately stayed by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service. The issue in the case concerned the correct forum for litigating such complaints when the act complained of did not directly involve action on her registration.
On 1 November 2017 the Supreme Court unanimously upheld Dr. Michalak’s construction of s.120(7) and the case will be remitted to the Employment Tribunal. The effect of the ruling is that those who complain of discriminatory behaviour on behalf of regulators can pursue the complaints in a virtually cost-free, specialist and user-friendly forum unless the act complained of is amenable to a defined statutory appellate scheme.
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