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Female applicant wins claim after losing out on job

The Taipei District Court ruled on Wednesday that the Ministry of Education and a screening committee member should compensate a female applicant for a top university post to the tune of NT$2 million (US$64,700) and publish an apology to her in four major newspapers.

The plaintiff, Chen Ching-lian (陳金蓮), vice president of National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, filed the lawsuit after she was rejected in the screening process to fill the post of president of National Ilan University in April 2006. Chen was one of three applicants interviewed for the position.

Chen said in the suit that Chang Tsung-jen (張宗仁), a member of the ministry’s screening panel, had asked her in the interview whether she thought “a female candidate would be in an unfavorable position to raise money?”

Chen said she believed the ministry’s screening and selection process for the position was discriminatory against women, had violated the Gender Equality in Employment Law (兩性工作平等法) and had tarnished her name.

The Taipei court said in its ruling that although a candidate’s ability to raise money can be taken into consideration when selecting a university president, gender and fund-raising ability are not directly related.

The ministry’s choice for the position should have been based on experience, ability and social network — not on gender, the court said.

The court made reference to the US presidential primary, saying that one of the Democratic candidates, Hillary Rodham Clinton, had shown a strong ability to raise funds. The allegation that women are at a disadvantage in raising funds is not a fact, the court said.

The court ruled that Chang’s questions were discriminatory and had “set up an unnecessary and unreasonable hurdle in the path of securing the post,” damaging Chen’s name and her rights under the law.

In addition, the court said that when Chen petitioned the ministry on the matter, the ministry had dragged its feet under the pretext of a procedural problem and did not launch an investigation into the issue until Chen filed the lawsuit.
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