30 May, the Warsaw Regional Court held a hearing regarding Miroslaw Sielatycki, the former director of the National In-Teacher Training Center dismissed over Compass. The Court ruled Mr. Sielatycki was wrongfully dismissed and awarded compensation. The matter of Miroslaw Sielatycki was covered by the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights Strategic Litigation Program. (31-MAY-07)

Written by Marta Lempicka/HRH Warsaw

On 8 June 2006, Mr. Sielatycki was dismissed by the Minister of Education, Roman Giertych. The cause for dismissal was publication of the Council of Europe book “Compass – A manual on human rights education with young people,” which, according to the Minister, encourages people to meet with homosexual organizations and promotes homosexuality.

On Wednesday, the Regional Court ruled the Minister of Education, Mr. Giertych, wrongfully dismissed Mr. Sielatycki and awarded over PLN 19,000 in compensation. The court agreed with the arguments of Mr. Sielatycki´s lawyer that the firing was unreasonable in light of the law and constituted discrimination. Further, the ruling explained that even though the Minister of Education that made the decision to dismiss Mr. Sielatycki, as the director´s formal employer the National In-Teacher Training Center would bear the financial liability. The parties may appeal to a court of higher instance.