A Chinese radiology consultant at Barnet Hospital who was victimised by his bosses and discriminated against racially has been awarded more than £186,000 in compensation.

An employment tribunal decided last week (April 24) that Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust put Dr Peter Lai into a frightening, baffling and bemusing' situation, and awarded him a total of £186,472.

A written statement from the tribunal panel said: "The injury to feelings was long-lasting and enduring over a period of time, and continues. Everything that he had achieved, everything that he had thought himself to be (in professional and family terms) was put at risk. And it was put at risk suddenly."

An employment tribunal in December last year deemed the trust to have racially discriminated against him.

Along with Dr Lai's line manager Dr Adrian Marcus, and consultant surgeon and medical director John Bolton, the trust was judged to have victimised Dr Lai between July 2000 and early 2002 singling his work out for closer scrutiny and questioning the standard of his English.

At a remedy hearing in February, Dr Lai said the humilitation nearly wrecked his marriage.

He added that his reputation had been so badly injured he had been forced to leave his private practice at the North London Nuffield Hospital.

In compensation for his loss of past and futue earnings, Dr Lai received more than £140,000. For hurt feelings, the tribunal made an award of £21,000, £2,500 for victimisation and £2,125 for medical expenses.

A spokesman for the trust said it is currently appealing against the findings of the original tribunal.

April 30, 2003 19:00