Court reinstates Iryna Farion in her position at Lviv Polytechnic
29 May 2024 15:30
The Lviv Court of Appeal has ruled to reinstate Iryna Farion as a professor of the Ukrainian language department at the Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences of Lviv Polytechnic. This was reported by Suspilne, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports
Farion asked to overturn the decision of the court of first instance, which refused to reinstate her as a professor of the Ukrainian language department and pay her average salary for six months.
Iryna Farion’s appeal against the decision of the Halytskyi District Court of Lviv was partially upheld. The orders of the Rector of Lviv Polytechnic National University to dismiss Iryna Farion of 15 November and 28 November were declared illegal and cancelled.
The court ruled to reinstate Iryna Farion as a professor of the Ukrainian Language Department at Lviv Polytechnic National University from 24 November 2023.
According to the court’s ruling, Lviv Polytechnic is to pay Farion her average salary for the period of forced absence in the amount of almost UAH 124 thousand, as well as a court fee of UAH 5782.17.
The ruling of the Court of Appeal comes into force from the moment it is announced, but can still be appealed in cassation.
Iryna Farion reacted to the court’s decision and said she would consider returning to Lviv Polytechnic.
“There are a lot of forces that would like me not to return to the university, and I really like to go against the forces that do not like me,” the linguist said.
The ruling of the Court of Appeal can still be appealed to the Supreme Court. A representative of Lviv Polytechnic said that he was waiting for the full text of the decision, and then they would think about the next steps.
Farion scandal
on 4 November, on the air of the programme ‘Rendezvous with Yanina Sokolova’, Iryna Farion spoke harshly about Russian-speaking Ukrainian soldiers, in particular, the soldiers of the Third Assault Brigade, which was created on the basis of the volunteer group ‘Azov’.
On the morning of 7 November, following this interview, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, addressed the National Police of Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine and the National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting regarding discrimination. Although Lubinets did not directly name Farion, his statement was made amidst active discussion of the scandal on social media.
In Lviv, leaflets demanding her dismissal appeared on one of the buildings of the Lviv Polytechnic, where Farion is a lecturer. In response, the administration of Lviv Polytechnic stated that it was not responsible for the statements of its employees outside the university.
on 9 November, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine responded to the situation by expressing support for the students’ demands not to cooperate with people who do not respect the defenders of Ukraine. At the same time, they noted that the decision to appoint and dismiss employees is made by the university itself.
on 13 November, Farion published a screenshot of an email from a student from Crimea who supported her in the language scandal, without hiding his personal information. Lubinets also reacted to this, saying that he had appealed to the SBU because he believed that Farion had not only violated the law but also played along with the occupiers.
The Security Service of Ukraine opened criminal proceedings under four articles and ordered a number of examinations of Farion’s statements and publications.
on 15 November, Lviv Polytechnic fired Farion, terminating her employment contract.
on 7 December 2023, Farion filed a lawsuit challenging her dismissal. She demanded that the dismissal order be declared illegal, that she be reinstated as a professor of the Ukrainian language department, and that her average salary for the period of forced absenteeism be recovered.
on 8 February, the case was considered by the Halytskyi District Court of Lviv under a simplified procedure without summoning the parties. The court refused to reinstate Farion as a professor. She filed an appeal.
on 9 May, the Lviv Court of Appeal began hearing the case on Farion’s reinstatement. The previous hearing was postponed due to the absence of a representative of Lviv Polytechnic.
