A hospital cardiologist who was suspended from working for Canberra Health Services two years ago has regained the right to work there.
Dr Muayad Alasady was accused at the time of "inappropriate behaviour", including saying that he "didn't give a shit about the pacemaker" for a patient.
He was also said to have been absent for 30 minutes while a patient was anaesthetised and waiting for treatment.
But he disputed the accusations and took Canberra Health Services to the Federal Court where he argued that he had been treated unfairly.
The settlement reached on the steps of the court means he's won the right to return to work for Canberra public hospitals. Its terms have not been disclosed.
Canberra Health Services was asked how much, if anything, its formerly suspended doctor had been paid in the settlement, but a spokesperson responded that it couldn't comment beyond the agreed statement.
Dr Alasady was also contacted for comment but did not respond.
Dr Alasady was suspended on full pay and then sacked.
There was no suggestion of incompetence on Dr Alasady's part. Indeed, he had formerly been celebrated for his pioneering work. The allegations made in court were that there were vitriolic personality clashes.
Since his suspension from the public health service, Dr Alasady has continued to work in private practice in Canberra.
The court settlement says that "Canberra Health Services and Dr Muayad Alasady have reached a mutually agreed settlement of the claims made in the Federal Court proceedings."
The agreement said that "Dr Alasady was and remains employed at North Canberra Hospital and he will now also provide electrophysiology procedures for public patients on behalf of Canberra Health Services".
Electrophysiologists are specialists who analyse the rhythms of the heart by studying its electrical signals. They are experts in pace-makers.
The original allegations included that Dr Alasady had acted in an unreasonable manner towards other staff in the cardiology unit.
Between October, 2020 and March, 2022, it was said that he hadn't been available to train junior medical practitioners, and that there were conflicts of interest with his private practice.
A health services director accused Dr Alasady of having outbursts, verbally attacking other employees and saying to another, female member of staff words to the effect that "because she wasn't doing her job properly, she was killing patients".
The broad allegation was that he bullied other staff and was difficult to work with.
Dr Alasady denied the claims and argued that his employer had mishandled the allegations, and so had breached the ACT Public Sector Medical Practitioners Enterprise Agreement.
He argued that his employer conducted preliminary assessments of his behaviour but didn't inform him.
He argued that he was not treated with "procedural fairness".
In 2021, a review into the culture of the territory's public health system found that more needed to be done to improve workplace behaviour. No names were mentioned.
But at the time, the Canberra Health Services chief executive Dave Peffer told The Canberra Times that people who had consistently exhibited poor behaviour would be exiting the organisation over the coming year.
"A primary focus for us over the next 12 months is looking at some of those individuals, and some of them are in quite senior roles in the organisation and shouldn't be," he said.
Dr Alasady is thought to believe that this statement and others indicated that he had been targeted.
An email seen by The Canberra Times two years ago and sent to staff in the cardiology department revealed that a law firm had been engaged to investigate allegations of misconduct.
A preliminary assessment from the investigators was described as a "hard read" in an email sent by Mr Peffer.
