A foreign pilot dismissed by EVA Airways in 2001 as part of its workforce reduction after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the US won a lawsuit against the airline.
The Taipei District Court ruled last week that the airline must pay an additional NT$1.17 million (US$35,600) as part of its termination of contract payment to John Dunton, who had worked at the airline for more than six years.
EVA Air, the nation's second-largest air carrier, terminated its continuous contract with Dunton by serving him a one-day notice on Oct. 3, 2001. The airline gave him NT$298,737 in severance pay, plus a one-way ticket home.
The pilot filed a civil complaint last December, claiming his severance package did not correspond to what he was entitled as per the Labor Standards Law (勞動基準法).
Article 16 of the law stipulates that when a worker has worked continuously for more than three years, an employer wishing to terminate a contract must give formal notice 30 days in advance, or pay the worker for the advance notice period, in addition to a severance payment.
The article further states that the calculation of the severance payment should be based on the employee's average wage over the six months prior to termination and that the employee is entitled to a month's pay for each full year served.
EVA Air argued that according to Article 126 of the Civil Code
However, the court ruled that the payments sought by Dunton constituted a "deferred penalty payment," which can be claimed within 15 years.
In May, EVA Air lost a similar case when the Taipei District Court ruled that it must pay Ljubinovic Rada, a pilot from the former Yugoslavia who worked for the airline for six-and-a-half years, an additional NT$1.5 million for failing to give him severance pay in accordance with the Labor Standards Law after dismissing him in 2001.
EVA Air lost the case, although its lawyers argued in court that Rada had already received NT$372,000 -- the equivalent of three months' salary -- plus a "compensation fee" and a free ticket to Europe.
EVA Air can appeal both cases to the Taiwan High Court.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai