A 29-year-old woman yesterday asked the Taipei City Government to investigate her former employer, who allegedly fired her after she sued her dentist for sexual harassment because the dentist is a major client of the firm.
The woman, who declined to give her name, told a press conference that the company, which markets healthfood products, sacked her after she filed the lawsuit.
She said her dentist, Chiang Kuo-ming (江國銘), had told her that her tooth alignment could be the cause of pain she was having in her waist and suggested a body massage could help relieve the pain.
Chiang tricked her into agreeing to be filmed, she said.
She said she had fled the room after Chiang rubbed her breasts.
“The dentist denied any wrongdoing until prosecutors found the videos,” she said. “What has hurt the most, however, is that instead of supporting me, my company pressured me and asked me to quit because they didn’t want to lose a big client.”
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilors Chen Cheng-chung (陳政忠) and New Party collegue Huang Shan-shan (黃珊珊) also attended her press conference.
Huang said the company appeared to have violated the Gender Equality in Employment Act (兩性工作平等法) and the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) by firing the woman without just cause.
Huang demanded Taipei City’s Department of Labor Affairs launch an immediate investigation into the incident.
Chen called on the city’s Department of Health to investigate the dentist, who is still practicing in Taipei City and Taipei County after being released on NT$100,000 bail.
Wu Hai-yen (吳海燕), a division chief at the Department of Labor Affairs, said the company had broken the law and promised to help the woman negotiate with her former employer.
The company would be fined between NT$100,000 and NT$500,000 for violating labor regulations, Wu said.
Chen Ching-mei (陳青梅), deputy commissioner of the health department, said Chiang’s license could not be suspended or revoked because he had not violated the Doctors Act (醫師法).
However, Chen said he would discuss the case with health authorities in Taipei County so both of the dentist’s clinics could be monitored.
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