A hot-headed NHS hospital radiologist has been suspended after he referred to a senior Asian colleague as “you yellow people” and challenged them to a fist fight during a staff appraisal meeting. .
Dr Herwig Thibaut, 62, also referred to another Asian colleague as “a f**king doctor” in an earlier conversation with his boss at North Tees University Hospital in Stockton-On-Tees, County Durham , a medical tribunal heard.
The ‘yellow people’ incident occurred in a consultant’s office while carrying out consultant clinical radiologist Thibault’s less than stellar assessment on December 23, 2021.
After being questioned about his workplace performance, Thibaut was “frowning” and “red-faced” as he walked toward the consultant in his office, then raised his hands that were “clenched into fists.”
“That’s you yellow people,” Thibaut, from Darlington, County Durham, shouted at the consultant, known as Dr C.
NHS radiologist Dr Herwig Thibaut, 62, was suspended after referring to a senior Asian colleague as “you yellow people” and challenging them to a fistfight during an assessment.
Dr Thibaut also referred to another Asian colleague as “a f**king doctor” in an earlier conversation with his boss at North Tees University Hospital in Stockton-On-Tees, County Durham.
Thibaut then asked Dr. C: ‘Do you want to fight me?’
Dr. C then threatened to call security, to which Thibaut responded, “Come on, call security.”
The terrified doctor tried to make calls for help from his office phone, but Thibaut pressed the receiver twice to cancel them and demand that they continue with the evaluation.
Dr. C said he felt “physically threatened” and was so shaken by the incident that he had to take time off work for several months.
During an internal investigation it emerged that Belgian national Thibaut had referred to another Asian colleague as “a f**king doctor” five months earlier.
He later attributed his behavior to stress and a depressive condition, stating that he was the victim of an “injustice.” He denied being racist.
At the Medical Professionals Tribunal, Thibaut, a doctor for 38 years, was found guilty of serious professional misconduct and suspended from practicing medicine for three months.
In 2010, he was fired from another hospital for shouting at a consultant who challenged his work, knocking down a doorstop in an office and unleashing “physical and verbal abuse” on staff.
The assessment took place at 1.30pm on 23 December 2021 after Dr C, a consultant radiologist, arranged a meeting with Thibaut to discuss his ‘Continuing Professional Development’ (CPD) at work.
In a statement, Dr C said: “When asked about his CPD and why he hadn’t done more, the issue appeared to be the trigger for his behavior as it all started to go downhill from there.” He accused me, among other things, of not understanding the importance of his work and of not understanding him or the pressures of Covid. His presentation was confrontational, angry, personal and spiteful.
«Dr Thibaut was clearly agitated and angry, both in his posture and in his tone of voice. His voice was getting louder and angrier, his face was frowning more aggressively, he was turning red, and his speech was also much faster.
‘His shoulders were hunched forward and his hands were clenched into fists, all while he took steps towards me. He became louder and increasingly threatening.
Dr. C urged Thibaut to leave three times, saying he would call security, but Thibaut responded, “Then go, call security.”
Then, when Dr. C stood up to pick up the phone, Thibaut confronted him and raised his clenched fists and said, “Do you want to fight me?”
Dr. C tried to call security twice, but both times Thibaut canceled the call.
At the Medical Court Service, Thibaut, a doctor for 38 years, was found guilty of serious professional misconduct and suspended from practicing medicine for three months.
Thibaut later attributed his behavior to stress and a depressive condition, stating that he was the victim of an “injustice.” He denied being racist
He added: “Dr. Thibaut told me I was not being understanding and said, ‘that’s what you yellow people are like.’
“I challenged Dr. Thibaut, telling him that he could not use racist statements like that, but Dr. Thibaut said he was not racist. I informed Dr. Thibaut that I would not continue with the evaluation because I would not tolerate racist abuse.
‘I felt physically threatened and repeated “please leave my office” but he repeatedly shouted “what about my appraisal?” ‘
Thibaut then insisted that Dr. C continue with the meeting despite being told to leave ten times. He finally left without apologizing.
In his testimony, Thibaut said the start of the assessment “went smoothly” but deteriorated when Dr C accused him of spending an “insufficient number of hours” on his CPD. He told the Manchester hearing: “I tried to explain to Dr C that he was struggling to balance wider work requirements and pressures, particularly the delay caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
‘It meant I prioritized clinical work and hadn’t set aside enough time to complete all the CPD requirements. ‘I felt upset that Dr C did not support me and did not empathize with my position. Dr. C compared my CPD to that performed by other colleagues, which seemed unfair to me. I felt singled out, stressed and humiliated.
“I had no idea why Dr. C felt the need to call security and I found it quite painful to do so as it was as if I was being treated like a criminal. During the assessment I was pushed to the limit and felt irritated and frustrated. Dr. C was trying to baffle me with statistics and portray me as an outlier who performed worse than others.’
He accepted saying the words “that’s you yellow people” but insisted he “deeply regretted it” and said he said it “in the heat of the moment.” When told that canceling the call was an aggressive act, Thibaut responded: “I wouldn’t use the word aggressive.” Maybe naughty.
GMC lawyer Chloe Fordham told the hearing: “Dr Thibaut’s actions had been threatening and caused Dr C to fear for his safety. They caused him to take time off work for several months. Dr Thibaut has shown who is unable to cope with the stress of his role. He doesn’t seem to have any meaningful idea of the effect the things he says have on others, and always seems surprised that people are upset by his behaviour.’
As for Thibaut, Ranald Davidson said his client had been sentenced to work at home in “isolation” following the incidents and had resigned from North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust. He added: “The circumstances of Dr Thibaut’s misconduct meant that he experienced workplace stress in 2021, stemming from a perception of injustice.”
‘He perceived his work allocation to be different to that of his colleagues, and his resulting sense of unfairness was compounded by Dr C’s comparison of his CPD with others during the appraisal meeting.
“While Dr. Thibaut’s behavior was clearly inappropriate, he is not racist and his actions and comments were not the result of an underlying racist motivation. He apologized and openly acknowledged that his racist comments were unacceptable.”
MPTS president Stephen Killen said: ‘Dr Thibaut’s actions were aggressive, intimidating and frightening for Dr C. Such behavior is unacceptable in any workplace. The Tribunal was very concerned about his racist comments and his aggressive and intimidating actions towards Dr C, which clearly appeared to have had a significant and detrimental impact on him.
“Those actions represented behavior that is completely unacceptable in the workplace.”
In 2011, Thibaut took County Durham and Darlington NHS Trust to an employment tribunal claiming he was being bullied by his bosses. He said he was taking medication for depression, claiming it triggered it and that his condition affected his temperament. His claim for unfair dismissal was dismissed.