Former Chelsea team doctor Eva Carneiro arrived at a tribunal court on Wednesday to begin her constructive dismissal case against the Premier League champions.
The preliminary hearing is taking place at the London South Employment Tribunal in Croydon and is being held in private before an employment judge.
Carneiro arrived at court holding hands with her husband, Jason De Carteret, and surrounded by her legal team, and made no comment to the waiting members of the press as she entered the building.
The 42-year-old doctor was dropped from first-team duties after then-Chelsea manager José Mourinho criticised her and first-team physio Jon Fearn for going on to the pitch to treat Eden Hazard on the opening day of the season.
The action meant that Chelsea were temporarily down to nine men against Swansea, and afterwards Mourinho called Carneiro and Fearn “impulsive and naive”.
Carneiro did not appear on the bench again for first-team duties and later parted company with the club.
The hearing is set to fix the timetable for the case, and deal with witness statements and disclosure of documents - including texts and emails - from each side, as well as any legal procedural disputes which currently exist between the two parties.
A date for a full hearing could be fixed for some time in June but there may be another preliminary hearing arranged before that takes place. The parties may also agree to a settlement before the case is heard. Chelsea filed their defence in the case last month.
Carneiro also has a separate personal legal action against Mourinho, who left the club in December, for alleged victimisation and discrimination.
Mourinho was cleared of using discriminatory language towards Carneiro following an investigation by the Football Association.
Afterwards, Carneiro and the FA’s independent board member, Dame Heather Rabbatts, criticised the governing body for not interviewing the doctor as part of its investigation.
Carneiro has also had backing from Fifa’s medical chairman, Michel D’Hooghe, who contacted the doctor to offer his support and that of the world governing body. He has backed Carneiro’s insistence that she was simply doing her job.
Leaving court after the three-hour hearing, Mary O’Rourke QC, representing Carneiro, said no settlement had been reached and a date had been fixed for the next hearing.
