Medical Board to discuss fate of ranting doctor

The Council of the TT Medical Board is expected to meet on Wednesday to discuss a recording in which a doctor used obscene, racist and discriminatory language toward a female worker.

President of the Medical Board Dr Kenneth Charles told Newsday on Tuesday that the matter remained confidential until the doctor gets a chance to present his case.

Charles said the council was meeting on Wednesday afternoon and he did not want to prejudice the meeting.

"There is a procedure for dealing with it which will be addressed tomorrow," he said.

He did not divulge any further information about the process of the investigation but noted that the findings would be made available to the public.

The doctor in question owns a private practice in south Trinidad. The audio recording, in which he threatened to fire the employee if she reported the matter to the Labour Board, has been circulating on social media.

The doctor was heard boasting of his financial status as a multi-millionaire, while referring to police officers as paupers, "dunce" and uneducated. He also used derogatory ethnic terms to describe them.

Minister of Labour Stephen McClashie said if the aggrieved worker filed a complaint with the Labour Board, only then could some type of intervention be made.

He said, “The person needs to make an official complaint for the Labour Board to get involved. We cannot get intervene in a private practice without fair cause. Although the matter is in the public domain via social media sites, it is still considered to be a private matter.”