Exclusive A claim against the BMA for discrimination will now go ahead after a former GP Committee chair who was removed during maternity leave won her case at a preliminary hearing.
Dr Farah Jameel was voted out as chair by the GPCE while on maternity leave in 2023, and has begun legal action against the BMA arguing that her subsequent removal was discriminatory.
A preliminary hearing was held in September to determine whether Dr Jameel could be classed as an ‘employee’, which was required in order for most of her claims against the BMA to proceed.
Pulse can now reveal that an employment judge has ruled in favour of Dr Jameel, determining that she was ‘both an office holder and an employee’ of the BMA under the Employment Rights Act 1996 and the Equality Act 2010.
This means that her full discrimination claim against the BMA can proceed, with the hearing set to begin on 3 February, lasting for a fortnight.
Pulse reported last month that the BMA has been accused of ‘direct discrimination (on the grounds of pregnancy and maternity); victimisation (sex); unfair dismissal; and wrongful dismissal’.
Last summer, the GPCE passed a vote of no confidence in Dr Jameel, who was elected as the first female chair of GPs in England in 2021. She had previously been put on temporary suspension in November 2022 following complaints made by the BMA’s staff.
GPs on the committee voted in favour of a motion which said they are ‘deeply concerned at the lack of clarity surrounding the status of the alleged suspension’ of Dr Jameel.
Dr Jameel’s lawyers have argued that the BMA’s decision to enact the committee’s vote resulted in her being ‘wrongfully dismissed’ as the union ‘did not have a fair reason for dismissal’.
At the time of her removal, the BMA told Pulse that it was ‘satisfied’ that no legal obligations were breached, despite the vote of no confidence being an ‘exceptional situation’ for the GPCE.
Dr Jameel’s lawyer, Spencer Wood, who is a partner at OH Parsons, told Pulse that the decision from the preliminary hearing is ‘very important’ and means a ‘major hurdle’ of the case has been overcome.
‘It’s an important first step and we’re glad we’re over it,’ he added.
Unite the Union is supporting Dr Jameel’s case by funding the legal costs and instructing her legal team.
The judgement from the preliminary hearing, made by Employment Judge Joffe at the start of this week, said: ‘The claimant was an employee of the respondent within the meaning of section 230 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 at the relevant time.
‘The claimant was an employee of the respondent within the meaning of section 83 of the Equality Act 2010 at the relevant time.’
The document, seen by Pulse, said that Judge Joffe ‘carefully considered the issue of control’, which is a common law test to determine if a person is an employee or an independent contractor.
She said there were ‘significant features’ which pointed towards the BMA having ‘control’ over Dr Jameel, such as a ‘requirement as to the number hours the claimant was obliged to work’.
Judge Joffe also cited Dr Jameel’s treatment ‘in respect of her sick leave’, as her referral to occupational health and advice meant that the BMA ‘in effect controlled the terms on which she was able to return to work’.
In her concluding remarks, the judge said: ‘Bearing all of that in mind, I concluded that the proper analysis of the relationship was that the claimant was both an office holder and an employee of the respondent, looking at the test under the Employment Rights Act 1996 and that under the Equality Act 2010.
‘The “contractor” label was one the respondent sought to impose to alter that nature of the relationship but it did not change the reality of the situation.’
In response, the BMA said: ‘We are surprised the tribunal has come to this judgment on employment status given this was an elected position and Dr Jameel was removed from her post as a result of a vote of no confidence by the GPCE.
‘We will now take time to examine the findings carefully.’
At the time of the no-confidence vote, Dr Jameel’s suspension hearings had not yet taken place due to her ongoing maternity leave, which began at around the same time as her suspension towards the end of 2022.
GPC equalities lead and proposer of the motion Dr Rachel Ali said it was not ‘brought on by the actions of any individual’, but rather ‘to give the committee a chance to offer a clear democratic mandate to the leadership of the profession and end the uncertainty of the last few months’.
She sought to assure members as an equalities lead that this was the ‘only fair way forward’.
While the vote passed, many criticised the committee’s move, with hundreds signing a petition calling for the withdrawal of the vote based on ‘unfair’ treatment of Dr Jameel.
However, elections went ahead for a new chair, with Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer taking up the position in August last year.
It’s almost as though the BMA has been taken over by a bunch of militants……
“ voted out as chair”