Surgeon wins £815 000 from BMA

An Indian surgeon who blames racism for blocking his career in the NHS has won nearly £1m ($1.8m; £1.5m;)in damages, costs, and interest from the BMA for failing to support him in bringing race discrimination claims.

The BMA has lost an appeal against an employment tribunal ruling that it was guilty of indirect race discrimination against Rajendra Chaudhary and must pay him a record £815 000. With interest since the tribunal ruling nearly two years ago, the final figure is just under £1m.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal upheld the Manchester tribunal's finding that the BMA, though willing to support members in racism claims against employers, was not prepared to “take on” the royal colleges, their specialty advisory committees, the postgraduate deans, or the specialist training authority.

The appeal tribunal agreed that, while the association was not guilty of direct race discrimination, this stance amounted to indirect discrimination because …