Journalist from Polish Radio Rzeszów again wins in court
17.03.2022
Apart from paying damages, the authorities of Polish Radio Rzeszów also must apologise to editor Grażyna Bochenek for mobbing and pay an additional PLN 10,000 in compensation, the Rzeszów Regional Court has ruled. The judgment is legally final.
In 2019 a journalist at Polish Radio Rzeszów aired a critical comment by a listener concerning the President of Poland. The management of the station then took a number of steps aimed at removing the journalist from the air. She filed suit against the station, alleging that the employer’s actions were not objectively justified but constituted discrimination and mobbing, and also infringed her personal interests.
The district court partially upheld the lawsuit, finding infringement of the plaintiff’s personal interests and discrimination. As a result of an appeal filed by our law firm, the regional court found that the claim for additional compensation for mobbing was also warranted. The court also ordered the CEO of Polish Radio Rzeszów to publish apologies on the website of the Rzeszów edition of Gazeta Wyborcza and on the news sites wirtualnemedia.pl and nowiny24.pl.
The appellate court found that the impermissible actions of Polish Radio Rzeszów had not ceased even after issuance of the judgment of the court of first instance, and further found that the allegations raised during the course of the appeal were justified. The court also entirely denied the radio station’s appeal, holding that the objections to the award by the lower court were groundless.
At the request of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, the journalist was represented pro bono by lawyers from the Employment practice at Wardyński & Partners Agnieszka Lisiecka, Dr Marcin Wujczyk and Joanna Dudek.
More on the foundation's website.