A junior doctor leading a class action over unpaid wages and overtime is facing a counterclaim by Canberra’s Calvary Public Hospital, according to her lawyer, who has called the move “unprecedented and intimidatory”.

A string of class actions against health services in Victoria, NSW and the ACT are underway, with tens of thousands of junior doctors claiming they not paid for the unrostered overtime hours they worked. 

Now, lawyer Hayden Stephens says Calvary Public Hospital has taken the “astonishing” step of counter suing against the lead doctor in the ACT class action, Dr Ying Tham.

As part of that counterclaim, Calvary Hospital is seeking damages and interest from Dr Tham for her unpaid overtime hours on the basis that she failed to keep her own time records of her hours.