Court finds no discrimination in an employer’s decision not to take back to work a T/C employee
In the case of Fadil Izzet v. Cyprus Oil Storage Company (date 13.01.2009, Ref. 219/2006) the appellant was an employee of the respondent company who was forced to abandon his place of work in 1974 following the Turkish invasion. He subsequently contacted the respondent asking them to take him back to work, adding that he could settle in the bi-communal village of Pyla and obtain the necessary permits from the Turkish Cypriot administration in order to come to work in the south. The applicant claimed that the respondent company’s failure to take him back to work was in breach of the Termination of Employment Law article 5(I) which prohibits dismissal on the ground of one’s race or ethnic origin. The Court found that the Turkish invasion had brought a de facto frustration of the contract of employment and that no obligation arose for the respondent company to accept the appellant back to work. With regard to the appellant’s arguments that it was possible for him to come to work with escort and after securing the permission of the Turkish Cypriot administration, the Court found that the former would require the involvement of the authorities of the Republic of Cyprus and the latter the involvement of the Turkish Cypriot authorities both of which were outside the control of the respondent, whilst the latter (the Turkish Cypriot administration), was also illegal.
