In a decision admitting the appeal, the Cluj Court of Appeal has ruled that a disciplinary sanction imposed on an employee for inappropriate and unsympathetic behaviour was lawful and justified.
The employee who was penalised, a doctor in a medical establishment, had behaved inappropriately towards the relatives of a patient in a critical condition, who were not allowed (in particular the patient’s husband) to remain with her in the ward where she was admitted or to visit her outside visiting hours, without giving any reason for that refusal. The Court held that the patient’s husband had this right, and the only scenario in which he could not stay with his wife would be if there was a good reason given by the doctor in charge – the employee did not give any such reason.
The court also noted as further evidence of lack of empathy the fact that the employee had asked the relative whether he understood Romanian, most likely as a presumption of his ethnicity.
Considering the factual situation, the Cluj Court of Appeal ruled that the disciplinary sanction was legally and duly ordered, since ethical behaviour and polite language towards the patients’ relatives are obligations incumbent upon the employee in her profession as a doctor.