Pretoria - A Pretoria surgeon applied to the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria for an urgent order allowing for the sheriff to search the hospital where he worked for documents relating to complaints that he had made sexual advances towards a nurse.
The doctor and hospital cannot be named in light of the allegations of sexual harassment at this stage.
The doctor said there were untrue rumours doing the rounds that he had sexually harassed a nurse. Nobody confronted him about this, but he heard from another nurse that this issue was being discussed during a staff meeting.
He was also told that the rumour had spread around the hospital.
He is set on suing whoever is spreading this rumour, but as he has no information on exactly what is said and by whom, he wanted an order that the sheriff searched the hospital and find whatever document can be found in this regard.
In is application, he stated: “I seek to have the searching of the premises of the first respondent (the hospital) in order to enable the sheriff to collect all the evidence – being all statements and affidavits obtained during the first respondent’s investigations of alleged sexual harassment complaint made against me.”
He further stated that he wanted the sheriff to make copies of the statements and outcomes of such investigations to enable him to launch an action for damages against the hospital and or employees of the hospital, or any third party who had badmouthed him.
The doctor brought his application without notifying the hospital group. The reason for this is that he feared that if anyone got wind of his application, they would destroy “the evidence” he was looking for.
He told Judge Harshila Kooverjie that the matter was urgent and the rumours making things uncomfortable for him at work. He said he approached the hospital group management in a bid to obtain more information as everyone was remaining mum on the subject.
In turning down the application, Judge Kooverjie said he was not satisfied that there was clear evidence that the documents which the applicant seeks were in the hospital’s possession. According to the judge, “at this stage, the applicant relies on rumours”.
Pretoria News