The Taiwan High Court yesterday reversed a lower court’s ruling in favor of EVA Airways in a case involving its sacking of an Italian pilot because he failed to report for duty.
The pilot, Gianalessandro D’Agostini, was employed by EVA in 2010 and took leave to return to Italy from April 1 to April 12, 2014.
While there, he suffered lower back pain and on April 9, his doctor advised him to transfer to a bigger hospital.
He contacted EVA 12 hours before the start of his shift on April 13, and asked for six days of sick leave from April 13 to April 18.
After EVA terminated his employment, he filed a lawsuit seeking compensation of more than NT$1.35 million (US$44,175 at the current exchange rate), equivalent to seven months’ salary.
In the first trial, the court found the company’s sacking to be illegal and ordered it to pay D’Agostini.
EVA appealed, claiming that although he provided a doctor’s diagnosis, the dates and content were incorrect and contradictory, proving that it was produced after the event to provide an excuse for taking more time off.
The Taiwan High Court said that based on the location of the pilot’s residence and the time needed to fly back to Taiwan, he should have embarked on the trip early on April 12.
However, he only contacted the company at 10pm that day, demonstrating that he was not prepared to return.
The court also said that although he asked for six days of sick leave, he failed to produce “a valid and reasonable medical record” to substantiate his alleged illness, and therefore ruled that it was reasonable for the company to fire him.
The case can still be appealed.
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