Lawsuit filed by two journalists approved
The Saanebezirk Labor Court in Fribourg ruled that the dismissal of journalists Jean Godel and André Hügli by their former employer, Radio Freiburg/Fribourg, was unjustified and awarded them virtually the full amounts they had sought.
The two journalists were dismissed from Radio Fribourg/Fribourg in February 2010. The two had previously been part of a four-person delegation commissioned by the editorial team to discuss the staff's criticisms and demands regarding the newly planned management structure with the company management, according to a press release. However, the talks were unsuccessful. When the team went public with a media release, the two were dismissed.
The two employees took legal action against this with the support of the Impressum professional association and the Syndicom trade union. Their lawyer Bruno Kaufmann represented their interests in court.
The ruling is a great satisfaction for the two journalists concerned, writes Impressum in the press release. Their commitment in the editorial office is now also officially recognized as worthy of protection. Furthermore, the ruling is of great importance from a fundamental trade union perspective. This is because employee representatives are all too often put under massive pressure within companies, and protection against abusive dismissals is underdeveloped in Switzerland, and an employee representative body that discusses with company management on an equal footing must be able to fulfill its functions without sanctions and without fear of them.
The ruling, which will only come into force definitively after the 30-day appeal period has expired unused, is a ray of hope in the case law on the protection of employees' rights.
