Labour judge, Labour lawyer, Labour client

Published: November 16, 2012 at 2:07pm

You can buy a lot of Christan Grey ties with 208,000 euros, but it’s not going to make you any woman’s dream

Isn’t this a lovely scenario? Mario Gerada, subliterate first cousin of shadow, former and future foreign minister George Vella and member of the Labour Party’s national executive committee, picks as his lawyer Labour star candidate and tifel tal-president Robert Abela.

His spurious case comes up before Labour judge Silvio Meli.

Silvio Meli awards him EUR208,000 on the basis of completely off-the-wall reasoning.

In these cases, a lawyer’s fees are calculated as a percentage of the award.

And everyone is happy: Silvio Meli because he used his position of power to exorcise personal demons of bitterness and vengeance against life in general and The Authorities in particular, and the other two because they got their money.

And society is the poorer for it, in more ways than the obvious.




20 Comments Comment

  1. AE says:

    I haven’t read the case but it seems from the article in The Times that there was a case for unfair dismissal.

    [Daphne – There wasn’t, and that is made clear even in the article in The Times. Read what is actually written, and not what you think you saw. A case for unfair dismissal is fought on the basis of, for example, “They sacked me for hitting an old lady but it’s not true that I ever hit her.” Did you see anything like that in that report? The focus was on whether he resigned or was sacked.]

    What seems totally off the wall is the reasoning used for the calculation of the award.

    If the man is working or had the opportunity to work and get paid the same level then that in itself should be taken into account in calculating damages.

    • maryanne says:

      Golden rule: When you want to dismiss someone from work, just do it. Don’t be kind and allow the person to resign so as to help him to make it easier in finding a new job.

      It will turn against you (the employer) if you are taken to court, It has been successfully done before. You think you are being charitable but then they abuse of your generosity and kindness.

    • A E says:

      Were any warnings given? Did they notify him as to why they were letting him go?

      You cannot terminate employment without giving just and sufficient cause. Claiming he resigned if he didn’t can’t have helped rebutting his claim. Of course if he did resign voluntarily that is another matter.

      Labour or not he has rights though I totally agree with you that the basis for compensation is totally flawed.

      [Daphne – He was a casual worker. You speak of the rights of full-time employees. Basically, his position was the equivalent of that of TEFL teachers called in to make up the numbers in summer.]

  2. The other hatter says:

    Justice Meli has managed to top this one, by upholding the right of the eldest son of a port worker to inherit his father’s job, and now extending that right to the eldest daughter.

    Aside from the absurdity of the 1996 Port Workers Regulations, which must surely be unconstitutional and ought to have been struck down, I’d like to know where this leaves the younger offspring of retired port workers.

    This wacky judge is on a roll.

    • A E says:

      1996 so it wasn’t Mintoff who introduced this absurd law?

      [Daphne – No, it wasn’t introduced in 1996, of course not. The inheritance thing has been going on as long as I remember. It was done away with completely in reforms linked to EU membership, under which such discrimination is not permissible.]

      • AE says:

        Yes, the law smacks of discrimination and I’m sure there are other principles it goes against. It has to be repealed without further delay and this judgement appealed.

        [Daphne – AE, it was repealed when we joined the European Union, because it was incompatible with EU rules.]

  3. etil says:

    Is Justice Meli out to increase the government deficit figure ?

  4. Perry Mason says:

    Issa Evarist Bartolo se jghidilna jekk hux ser jinvestiga jekk f’dan il-kaz hemmx xi xamma ta’ mazunerija?

  5. Angus Black says:

    Waiting for appeals against Meli’s two outrageous judgments.

    He sure is lining the right pockets if the jerks end up governing.

  6. ciccio says:

    In the case of the stevedore’s daughter, Judge Silvio Meli decided that the authorities shall pay compensation equal to the difference between Mrs. Cassar’s current pay and the (presumably) higher pay she would have earned as a port worker.

    Judging by what Mr. Gerada himself has chosen to show us on his Facebook, it seems that Mr. Gerada is earning more in whatever he is doing now than he would as a casual nurse thanks to the fact that he no longer works as a casual nurse.

    Therefore, why didn’t Judge Meli order Mr. Gerada to liquidate the difference as a compensation in favour of the authorities?

    • maryanne says:

      Since compensation is being given against loss in salary, I hope that due taxes are paid.

    • Mister says:

      Did Judge Silvio Meli also calculate the income tax due on this `presumed` difference in wages?

      Did Judge Silvio Meli also calculate if Mrs. Cassar is now not eligible for childrens allowance and now has to refund what the government gave her already?

      The courts have long gone down the drain.

  7. H.P. Baxxter says:

    Here’s one for ciccio. Spot the difference, with a little music on the side.

    Nurse and bum
    http://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Mario-Gerada-32-300×227.jpg

    Nurse and bum
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EGQfECf1_U

    • ciccio says:

      Baxxter, here is the difference.

      In the case of the nurse in the first picture, a court was told that “he was not giving patients the desired service to the detriment of their health” and that consequently he blew his job.

  8. PG says:

    Any comment from Franco Debono or JPO on this scandal?

  9. AE says:

    So if the law was repealed why is this claim even being entertained?

    [Daphne – Because the suit was filed when the law was in force, back in 1993 I think.]

  10. haga mohgaga says:

    Where is Eddy Privitera now? Jew issa qed jisthi mill-verita?

  11. Qeghdin Sew says:

    Muscat’s tie. What the bloody hell?

  12. Grosvenor says:

    The fact that we regularly get people from Facebook, posting pictures of their villas, garages, cars, nice dogs, pools and expensive trips abroad, and at the same time complaining that the government is their parasite, tells me that something must be very wrong with the Labour supporters.

    This one keeps begging the question: who is the parasite?

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