Legal Aid Institute files lawsuit against Islamic school

Legal Aid Institute files lawsuit against Islamic school

JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta branch of the Legal Aid Institute
(LBH) has filed a lawsuit against the Syifa Budi Perguruan Islam
Al Azhar Kemang Foundation for firing 23 teachers of the school
in 1994.

The foundation unlawfully dismissed the teachers who had been
teaching there for seven years, LBH said in a written statement
made available to The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

LBH said the foundation had forced the teachers to resign for
undisclosed reasons.

In doing so, LBH said, the school had acted arbitrarily and
broken the law.

It said that by firing the teachers the foundation violated
article 10 No.12, 1964, on the dismissal of workers in private
companies which states among other things that employers should
first talk to their employees before deciding to fire them. The
article also underlines the need for the employers to tell their
workers about the mistakes they made which leads to their
dismissals.

According to LBH, the school officials should have given
written warnings to the teachers before deciding to sack them.

Because of this, LBH demanded that the dismissal be declared
invalid and that the teachers be reinstated.

It also demanded the foundation give Rp 2.5 billion in
compensation to the plaintiffs which should be paid in cash
effective seven days after the court trying the case fulfills the
demand.

The legal institute urged the foundation to reinstate the
teachers and restore their reputations by letters of apology
published in at least three Jakarta-based newspapers and the
private television company RCTI for three days in
succession.

"The foundation is also obliged to pay Rp 1,000 in daily fines
for its delay in fulfilling the demands," LBH stated. (bas)