Fundación Secretariado Gitano

Labor court in León (Spain) rules a redundancy invalid due to antigypsyism discrimination [editar]

• Equal treatment
• National level

On May 18^th, León Labor Court number 3 issued a verdict ruling the nullity of the redundancy of Pedro H.R., waiter at a restaurant in León from which he had been fired when the owner found out that Pedro was Roma.

The incident took place when Pedro H.R., while working at the restaurant, served a group of Roma customers. These customers were acquaintances of his and Pedro had a chat with them. The owner of the restaurant then asked Pedro whether he too was Roma. When he said he was, the owner complained about not having been told before hiring him, arguing a need to be aware of the background of any would-be employees. From that moment onward, the owner’s treatment of Pedro changed drastically. As part of this change, the owner made distinctly anti-Roma remarks such as ‘You should read some more and work harder on your studies instead of sitting down with your cousins drinking beer and playing guitar’ and ‘You see now why I don’t want Roma working here, right? They used to come every now and then, but now they come more frequently and that is bad for my business.’

Some days later, the owner asked to see Pedro in private and told him she was making him redundant, with no further explanation on the reasons. Pedro consequently reached out to FSG, where a professional technician specialized in antigypsyism pointed out the evidence for discriminatory motives behind the redundancy.

The trial took place on May 17^th. The redundancy was ruled invalid for violation of fundamental rights. FSG hopes that this case will encourage other victims to report any incidents of racial or ethnic discrimination, whether in the workplace or in any other area of their lives. In Spain, this can be done phoning 021  to access  Service for Assistance and Guidance to Victims of Racial or Ethnic Discrimination of the Council for the Elimination of Racial or Ethnic Discrimination (a body attached to the Ministry of Equality).

This support service is provided by FSG along with seven other entities, all of which stand out for their work against all forms of racism.