04/04/2022
Fundación Secretariado Gitano
Amara F. F., a 22-year-old Roma woman, was dismissed on her first day working as a cleaner in a supermarket when they found out that she was Roma.
A conciliation hearing was held in a Social Court in the Andalusian city of Jaén after the young woman filed a lawsuit for null and void dismissal with the support of the Fundación Secretariado Gitano.
Fundación Secretariado Gitano (FSG) celebrates justice in what it considers to be a clear case of antigypsyism in the access to the first employment of a young woman.
A judicial conciliation hearing was held today in the Social Court No. 1 of Jaén, after Amara F. F., a young woman who was fired on her first day of work when her employers found out she was Roma, filed a lawsuit for null dismissal due to discrimination and antigypsyism.
The events took place in October 2021, when a cleaning services company hired Amara by recommendation of her sister-in-law, a former employee of the same company, who is not Roma. The same day that the young woman started working in one of the supermarkets that subcontracted the services of this company, the manager asked her sister-in-law via WhatsApp if Amara was Roma. After this conversation, the manager called Amara to put an end to the employment relationship, with the excuse that a girl who was on sick leave had joined the company, which has now been proven to be false. The only reason for her dismissal was that she was Roma, as the company itself admits.
Prior to filing the lawsuit, in November last year, the mandatory conciliation proceedings were attempted at the Mediation, Arbitration and Conciliation Centre, but the defendant company did not appear. Therefore, although Amara would have preferred to reach an agreement at the conciliation meeting before initiating legal proceedings, she had no choice but to file a lawsuit against the company, with the support of the FSG.
Despite the fact that the trial for the null dismissal was scheduled, the parties have reached an agreement before the Court, whereby the company acknowledges the null dismissal for discrimination and agrees to pay the victim a compensation worth 4,100 euros.
This court settlement has been achieved as a result of the courage of the young Amara and the support provided by the FSG which, considering it a strategic litigation case, has hired two lawyers with expertise in labour and anti-discrimination law: Ainhoa Jiménez, representing the victim, and Pastora Filigrana, representing the Fundación Secretariado Gitano, which has also intervened in the proceedings.Links
