The legal row between Dr Eva Carneiro, Jose Mourinho and Chelsea heads for the courts for the first time in the new year with lawyers
for all sides due to cross swords in a private hearing on January 6.
Carneiro's lawyers will be claiming for reinstatement in her role
as First Team Doctor, damages for
sex discrimination from manager Jose
Mourinho as well as personal injury compensation and aggravated damages
from the club.
After months of accusations and legal correspondence, the two
legal teams - Eastwoods and Mary O'Rourke QC on behalf of Carneiro and
Fox Williams for Chelsea and Mourinho - will be fully briefed for battle
since proceedings were issued back in November.
At this stage it's thought unlikely that either Mourinho or
Carneiro will attend the preliminary hearing. But these latest
developments will do little to ease the pressure on the beleaguered
52-year-old manager.
The hearing will take place at the London South Employment
Tribunal in Croydon, rather than the Central London Tribunal, as
Chelsea's training ground in Cobham falls under the Croydon tribunal's
jurisdiction.
At 10am, on January 6, both sides will need to advise a senior
judge of the evidence each will put forward, the number of statements
and the evidence required from each other.
This is likely to include disclosure of emails and text messages
sent by Carneiro, the club and Mourinho on, before and after August 8
when the club doctor was dropped from first team duties for treating
Eden Hazard.
Mourinho has since been cleared by the FA of using discriminatory
language towards Carneiro but the doctor has criticized the governing
body over its investigation.
The hearing, expected to last two hours, will be held in private
in front of a senior judge. If both sides are unable to reach agreement,
then a date for the full tribunal hearing will be fixed, most likely
sometime beyond the end of the season, probably around the first or
second week in June.
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