The plaintiff sued the defendant for 22 million VND, the defendant counter-sued, and the court of first instance ordered the plaintiff to pay more than 298 million VND to the defendant.

On May 24, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court postponed the appeal hearing of the labor lawsuit to allow the plaintiff to discuss a support plan for the defendant. The plaintiff in this lawsuit is Sao The Gioi Media Joint Stock Company, and the defendant is Mr. Truong Duy Linh, who used to work for this company.

Withdrawing the lawsuit but still being held back by the court

According to the records, on October 1, 2013, Sao The Gioi Media Joint Stock Company signed a one-year labor contract with Mr. Truong Duy Linh. Mr. Linh's job is project management with a salary of 22 million VND/month. After the contract expired, the two parties signed a new labor contract, also with a one-year term.

The company said that on January 15, 2015, Mr. Linh quit his job without notice, so the company sued Mr. Linh to demand compensation of 22 million VND.

During the court process, Mr. Linh learned that the company had submitted to the court a decision to terminate his employment signed on January 31, 2015. In August 2015, Mr. Linh counter-sued, demanding that the company pay him more than VND365 million. This amount includes unpaid wages, 13th month salary, and compensation due to the company's illegal unilateral termination of the contract.

In September 2015, Sao The Gioi Company withdrew its lawsuit. The court suspended the company’s lawsuit but continued to resolve Mr. Linh’s counterclaim.

At the mediation sessions, the company agreed to compensate Mr. Linh 30 million VND, then increased to 37 million VND, but Mr. Linh did not agree.

From being grabbed by the shirt, Mr. Truong Duy Linh became the winner of the lawsuit. Photo: LE TRINH

And lost the lawsuit for nearly 300 million VND

According to the company, after Mr. Linh quit his job, the two sides exchanged emails and agreed that Mr. Linh agreed to quit his job. On March 11, 2015, at Mr. Linh’s request, the two sides had a successful mediation session at the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Tan Phu District. Accordingly, the company agreed to pay Mr. Linh 37 million VND and Mr. Linh agreed to quit his job.

Meanwhile, Mr. Linh said that the company fired him and did not allow him to work. He took a few days off and then returned to do tax declarations for the company. Then the company refused to let him work again, so he sent a petition to the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Tan Phu District to request mediation. After the mediation was successful, the company did not fulfill its promise and sued him.

At the first instance trial in February 2016, Tan Phu District People's Court determined: On January 31, 2015, the company issued a decision to terminate Mr. Linh's employment (on March 1, 2015, he started his employment), but by March 11, he had not yet delivered the termination decision to Mr. Linh, which was a violation of the notice period stipulated in Article 38 of the 2012 Labor Code. A representative of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Tan Phu District also confirmed that by April 11, this agency had not yet received the termination decision from the company.

Regarding the reason for the termination, the company claimed that there was an agreement with Mr. Linh. However, the company could not provide a written agreement before the date of the termination decision. On March 11, 2015, the mediation at the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Tan Phu district gave the result: by March 20 at the latest, the company would pay Mr. Linh two months of salary, issue a termination decision and close the insurance book. After the deadline, the two parties still had not come up with a solution. The company did not pay the money but sued the employee.

From the above comments, Tan Phu District People's Court ordered the company to pay a total of more than 298 million VND.

Dissatisfied with this result, the company appealed.

It may cost more.

On May 24, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court held an appeal hearing. The panel of judges questioned the company, "Why did you come to an agreement and not pay Mr. Linh, but instead turned around and sued? Does the company think it is reasonable?"

The company representative replied that the company had invited Mr. Linh to come and pay the money many times, that the company had counted the money and left it there but Mr. Linh did not come. “Because the company hired a lawyer to study the case, this lawyer said that we had to sue the employee. The company followed suit, but after the company's leaders thoroughly studied the contents of the case, they found it was incorrect and decided to withdraw the application. Regarding the decision to terminate the employment, the company said that it was issued after the reconciliation date of March 11, but at Mr. Linh's request, the company postponed it to January 31.”

The court asked Mr. Linh: “According to the successful conciliation minutes, you also agreed to quit your job. The problem here is that the company did not fulfill the agreement. You should have sued to request the company to fulfill the promised agreement, why are you demanding compensation of more than 300 million VND?”

Mr. Linh was upset: “I am the main breadwinner in the family. The company let me go right when my wife was about to undergo cancer treatment. My family life almost fell into a deadlock. At the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Tan Phu district, the company promised to compensate me 37 million VND, I agreed to quit to have more money to take care of my wife. But the company promised then broke its word, that much money made me go back and forth countless times. Called me to wait and then said the leader was busy with a meeting. Many times like that. In the end, they didn’t pay me and even sued me. I had no choice but to counter-sue…”.

Given Mr. Linh’s situation, the appellate panel asked the company to provide additional support to Mr. Linh. The company representative said that they could not make the decision on their own and had to consult with their leaders. Therefore, the court decided to postpone the case to give the company more time to discuss a plan to support Mr. Linh.

According to PLO