Former Chelsea FC doctor Eva Carneiro rejected a £1.2million settlement from the club, it has been claimed.
The offer emerged during an explosive first day of her employment tribunal which also heard claims the then manager Jose Mourinho called her “daughter of a whore” in his native Portuguese.
She is claiming constructive dismissal against the Premier League club, and is bringing a sexual discrimination and victimisation case against Mr Mourinho.
She claims that, as she ran on to the pitch to treat a player, Mr Mourinho shouted “filha da puta”.
The allegation centres on swear words used when Mr Mourinho berated her for going on to the pitch to treat a player during the opening game of last season.
But Mourinho insisted in a written statement that he used the term “filho da puta” – meaning “son of a whore” – and said it was a phrase he regularly used during matches.
He said. “There is no sexist connotation in the use of the phrase. It is just like saying ‘f*** off’.”
Mary O’Rourke QC, representing Dr Carneiro, said: “He uses the word ‘filha’ because he is abusing a woman.”
Both legal teams will employ Portuguese language experts to make their case which centres on a single vowel.
“FILHA” is the female form of the noun meaning ‘daughter’ in Portuguese, which Carneiro says was directed at her.
Mourinho says he used the male form “filho”, meaning son.
The £1.2 million offer was disclosed in the respondents’ skeleton argument, made by Chelsea and Mourinho, who continues to share representation despite his appointment as Manchester United boss.
The argument read: “The claimant has been offered her job back on more than one occasion.
“She has been made an open offer of £1.2million to settle her claims.”
It was also alleged that Carneiro, 42, requested a salary of £400,000 in discussions with Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia on August 20 last year.
Other “extravagant demands” were made including “some benefits that not even board members received”, the papers added.
Mourinho will be grilled by Ms O’Rourke QC over two days of the hearing which is expected to last up to 10 days.
Legal papers submitted to the tribunal on behalf of Chelsea and Mr Mourinho showed Dr Carneiro had been “made an open offer of £1.2 million to settle her claims”.
They said: “The respondents have taken these steps only because they believe that it is in no one’s interests that this dispute should be determined through litigation.”
Chelsea and Mr Mourinho’s legal team claim she refused the offer having previously turned down repeated offers to return to her £286,000 a year job.
They say she demanded a number of conditions to return including a 40% pay rise.
The row erupted when Dr Carneiro’s intervention alongside physio Jon Fearn meant star player Eden Hazard had to leave the pitch.
It left Chelsea temporarily down to nine men after earlier having a man sent off.
Mourinho called them “impulsive and naive” during interviews after the game on the opening day of the 2015/16 Premier League season.
Dr Carneiro says the abuse continued into the dressing rooms.
Dr Carneiro, 42, did not appear on the bench again for first-team duties. Mr Fearn is still employed by the club. Mourinho was later sacked after a run of poor results.
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