Former Chelsea team doctor Eva Carneiro attended a tribunal hearing yesterday regarding her constructive dismissal case against the club.
Wearing a long, grey coat and holding hands with her husband, Carneiro made no comment to the media as she arrived for the preliminary hearing flanked by her legal team in Croydon, south London.
After the three-hour hearing, held in private at London South Employment Tribunal, Carneiro’s lawyer Mary O’Rourke told reporters that a date had been set for the next hearing, but did not reveal when.
Carneiro, 42, left Chelsea in September after being removed from first-team duties by manager Jose Mourinho, who was sacked by the Premier League champions last month.
Mourinho had rebuked her and physiotherapist Jon Fearn for running onto the pitch to treat Eden Hazard during his side’s 2-2 draw with Swansea City on the season’s opening day, which temporarily left Chelsea with nine men.
Mourinho called Carneiro and Fearn “impulsive and naive”, but the Premier League Doctors’ Group said failure to treat Hazard would have been a breach of their care of duty.
Reports suggest a full hearing could take place in May or June, but the parties may agree to a settlement before the case is heard.
Carneiro is also believed to have tabled a separate legal claim against Mourinho for alleged victimisation and discrimination. Mourinho was cleared by the Football Association of making discriminatory remarks to Carneiro.
But she complained that she had not been asked by the FA to make a statement about what had happened.
“I was surprised to learn that the FA was allegedly investigating the incident of August 8 (the date of the Swansea game) via the press,” Carneiro said. “I was at no stage requested by the FA to make a statement.
“I wonder whether this might be the only formal investigation in this country where the evidence of the individuals involved in the incident was not considered relevant.”