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)