Hong Kong maid sues employer for insults and firing her due to pregnancy

The helper, Riyanti, claimed her employer, Wong Po-chu, hurled abuse at her at a hospital just moments after she found out the helper was pregnant

An Indonesian domestic helper is suing her employer for subjecting her to verbal insults and firing her after she became pregnant.

The helper, Riyanti, claimed her employer, Wong Po-chu, a nurse at Yan Chai Hospital, hurled abuse at her just moments after she found out the helper was pregnant, a District Court writ said.

“You are a Muslim. Why are you with this man and got pregnant? This man is dirty,” Riyanti was allegedly told. Wong also allegedly called Riyanti “a dog” and other names.

The writ said the allegations followed what happened after Riyanti was discharged from the Princess Margaret Hospital for treatment on an abscess in April this year.

The episode took place on April 8, when the helper was discharged with a medical report. Wong found out about the helper’s pregnancy when she forcefully snatched the report from her, the writ said.

In the following days, the writ continued, the helper was taken reluctantly to a clinic to check for HIV and sexually transmitted diseases.

Riyanti is now suing under the Employment Ordinance and Sex Discrimination Ordinance and is claiming HK$121,233 for breach of her contract, as well as other damages to be accessed by the District Court.

The writ said Riyanti began to work for Wong in 2010, but the helper experienced the first setback when she was denied permission to visit home, after her husband passed away four months into her employment.

She renewed her contract three times with Wong, but was never given the statutory holidays required between each transition. She was paid compensation for some, though, the writ said.

Six years later, on the day Riyanti was discharged from the Princess Margaret Hospital, she was allegedly verbally humiliated on two occasions.

The writ said she was made to copy a resignation letter Wong prepared and signed later that day. Yet she continued to work the following day and was verbally assaulted again when Wong took her to her employment agency, the writ said.

The helper was sent home on April 10, which the writ argued amounted a termination of employment.

The writ alleged that the employer had breach her duty by causing physical and psychological harm to the helper.

(SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST)