Head Doctor of Turau Hospital Iryna Siarheichyk Denied Reinstatement in Employment

On 21 October Aleh Kastsiuchenka, Judge of Zhytkavichy District Court, dismissed the claim by the head doctor of Turau hospital Iryna Siarheichyk regarding her dismissal ordered by the administration of the medical company. When the court rules takes effect, Ms Siarheichyk, who organized a US-funded rehabilitation center in Turau, would become unemployed.
The head of the Zhytkavichy medical company Kanstantsin Hramak dismissed Iryna Siarheichyk from the position of the head doctor of Turau Hospital back in January. The ground given as the reason for the dismissal was that the experience and knowledge of Ms Siarheichyk do not meet the standards of the head doctor position. This was a conclusion supported by the attestation commission chaired by the head of the medical company.
Iryna Siarheichyk took the matter to district court. The court recognized as biased the conclusions made by the attestation commission. It was ruled that the administration of the medical company pay Ms Siarheichyk more than a million rubles of the wages lost through her forced absence at work.
In June a medical rehabilitation center created at the expense of the European Command of US Armed Forces was inaugurated in Turau, with the US Ambassador to Belarus George Kroll taking part in the ceremony. The top district officials made publicly statements, saying that the center would upgrade the medical treatment of the district residents to a new level. The US-donated grant to set up the center was obtained only through the efforts of Iryna Siarheichyk.
Less than a week after the Rehabilitation Center of Turau Hospital was opened, the administration of the district medical company reversed in the regional court the ruling that reinstated Iryna Siarheichyk as the head doctor. The case was transferred back to Zhytkavichy court for re-consideration.
After three day consideration of the case Judge Kastsiuchenka recognized the validity of the order issued by the medical company administration regarding the dismissal of Iryna Siarheichyk. Ms Siarheichyk and her lawyer Mikhail Matusievich are planning to appeal against the ruling taken by the judge in a higher court.