Worker Dismissed from Municipality Due to Same-Sex Relationship Wins Court Case

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Garbage truck driver R.S., who was dismissed from his job at Kağıthane Municipality in İstanbul due to homosexual relationship, has won the lawsuit of reinstatement that he filed at Labor Court. The court has annulled the decision of the municipality to cancel the contract of R.S.

The Municipality of Kağıthane dismissed three garbage truck drivers without paying any compensation in April 2018 "on the ground that they were having a same-sex relationship." Workers R.S. and A.A. filed a lawsuit of reinstatement after the termination of their contracts.

As reported by Dinçer Gökçe from Hürriyet newspaper, the İstanbul 34th Labor Court announced its judgement today (January 30) and ruled that the worker shall be reinstated in his job.

Attorney of the municipality Nebi Karaca previously requested dismissal of the charges "considering that the contract of the worker was terminated with a valid reason and the valid conditions for the termination emerged." When the municipality terminated the contracts of the workers in April 2018, it referred to "cases violating the rules of morality and good faith."

Speaking to Esra Boğazlıyan from Habertürk on July 12, Kağıthane Mayor Fazlı Kılıç said, "It has nothing to do with our municipality, it happened out of working hours." Yet, he added, "The superiors did what was necessary."

The lawsuit filed by A.A. has still been continuing.

According to a study jointly conducted by the Ankara-based Kaos GL Association and Kadir Has University, the right to work of LGBTI individuals can be violated in Turkey through the article on "cases violating the rules of morality and good faith." The same study has shown that more than half of LGBTIs hide their sexual orientation for fear of discrimination. (EÖ/EKN/SD)