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Public Defender Calls on Special Penitentiary Service to Eliminate Discriminatory Practices in Labour Relations

On May 19, 2021, the Public Defender addressed the Special Penitentiary Service and the Medical Institution No. 18 for the Accused and Convicted Persons of the Special Penitentiary Service with a general proposal relating to discrimination by association on the grounds of different opinion in labour relations.

On 10 October 2020, the Public Defender of Georgia launched an investigation into allegations of discrimination on the grounds of the critical Facebook posts of the applicant's son.

The applicant had been working as an assistant at the Administrative Division of Penitentiary Institution No. 18 of the Special Penitentiary Service since 10 July 2017, however, she was in fact acting as an employee of the Chancellery as she was unable to perform the job relevant to her position. In October 2020, the applicant was offered to perform functions required by her job position, which she refused.

Assessing the factual circumstances and evidence in the case, the Public Defender considered that the offer to the applicant to perform the functions and duties required by her job position, which indirectly created a precondition for her dismissal, coincided with her political activity and critical statements, while the Special Penitentiary Service failed to disprove the allegation of discriminatory treatment.

The Public Defender, in her general proposal, called on the Special Penitentiary Service and the Medical Institution No. 18 for the Accused and Convicted Persons to refrain from discriminatory treatment in labour relations and not to create discriminatory preconditions for other employees for the purpose of terminating labour relations with them, as well as to be guided by the principles of equality in the implementation of activities in the future.

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