Female worker who picked up 5 taels of gold in the trash withdrew her lawsuit against her former company.

After more than two years of suing the company for terminating her labor contract after finding 5 taels of gold in the trash, a female worker in Ca Mau has withdrawn her lawsuit.

On April 18, the People's Court of Ca Mau City suspended the settlement of the lawsuit of Ms. Pham Tuyet Mai (37 years old) against Cong Ly Construction - Trade - Tourism Company Limited due to unilateral termination of the labor contract.

Ms. Mai smiled when she was declared the winner of the first instance case in late June 2016. Photo: Phuc Hung.

This decision was made by the panel of judges after Ms. Mai withdrew her lawsuit, and the defendant also agreed to pay compensation of 80 million VND as previously agreed.

For her part, the female worker said she will not return to work at her old company.

According to the case, on the afternoon of August 4, 2014, while sorting trash at the Ca Mau Waste Treatment Plant, Ms. Mai picked up a leather wallet containing a gold bracelet, 4 necklaces, 3 large and small pendants, 10 rings, 3 pairs of earrings, a broken pendant... She informed her colleagues and put it away.

A while later, the factory leader came to make a record of keeping the gold, but Ms. Mai did not agree. The gold was handed over to the police to find the owner.

The leaders of the Ca Mau City Waste Treatment Plant then held a meeting and dismissed Ms. Mai because she "violated the regulations of the company's General Director on controlling gate access and preventing theft", causing serious damage to the company's assets and interests.

In early September 2014, the company asked Ms. Mai to come and receive the decision to terminate her labor contract, but it did not specify what violations the female worker had committed. Believing that this decision violated her legitimate rights, Ms. Mai filed a lawsuit with the People's Court of Ca Mau City.

After several postponements of the trial, at the end of June 2016, the People's Court of Ca Mau City annulled the decision to dismiss Ms. Mai, forcing the company to re-employ the plaintiff, pay her salary during the time she was not working (more than 76 million VND), pay back insurance and other requests of the female worker.

The verdict was then appealed by the company, and on September 10, 2016, the People's Court of Ca Mau province annulled the verdict due to procedural violations.

Regarding the gold, after receiving it, Ca Mau City Police announced to find the owner. After the statute of limitations expired, no one came to claim it, so the police decided to give Ms. Mai 10 months of minimum salary (equivalent to 27 million VND) plus 50% of the remaining gold after deducting 10 months of minimum salary (equivalent to 41 million VND).

In total, Ms. Mai received about 68 million VND. The remaining amount (41 million VND) will be added to the public fund.

However, later, Ms. Nguyen Thi Bich Ngan (in Ward 8, Ca Mau City) went to Ca Mau City Police to admit that she was the owner of nearly 5 taels of gold that Ms. Mai picked up, then presented many related evidences and was accepted.

According to VNE