Financial compensation would be justified on the grounds of diminished earning power. The same argument does not apply to someone who refuses treatment for any disbility (actual or pretended) and demands cash instead.

Agreed but parents should also be made responsible for the actions of their children.

We just cannot dump all our problems on the government or the church authorities.

If we bear children, it is our responsibility to monitor them besides seeing to their well-being. The word responsible seems to have been forgotten in today’s society.

[Daphne – I trust you are following the Jimmy Saville/BBC story. It’s all over the news.]

This has nothing to do with losing a limb for which one should be compensated if it is due to negligence on the part of the employer.

What they have lost is not physical but they did go through traumas for which the Church has already offered therapeutic services.

If they do not accept these services and insist on compensation only, then it is obvious as to what they really want.

Another thing, although they went through the traumas for which they surely have my full sympathy, this did not preclude them from marrying and having children or am I going off the mark now.

Do not see the connection – they have not lost anything physically but they did pass through traumas for which the Church is ready to afford them all the therapautic services available. If they only accept compensation then it is quite obvious what they are after.

I have no opinion where compensation, if any is due, should come from.

But this idea that the Church should not be responsible for wrongdoings by workers in its employ is in stark contrast to what happens in civil society in general.

The very recent judgement on the unfair dismissal of a casual nurse landed him with a good pack of euros which will be paid not by the perpetrators of the dismissal but by the innocent tax-payers.

Needless to say, this is not a unique case.

Nobody seems to be arguing that this and similar compensation is “immoral misappropriation of money contributed for other much needed civil purposes” and that “any compensation should be paid by the culprits themselves not by innocent co-tax-payers”.

This compensation, as in all other similar cases, does not lead to misinterpretation, whether sooner or later, that the government is compliant with injustices by its executives.

If innocent tax-payers foot the bills, why should innocent followers be afforded special treatment?

This is Malta. An inefficient CASUAL worker who was fired (wasn’t he a temporary worker?) because he was inefficient, was given a FULL TIME pay for work which he hasn’t yet done. He could even die in the interim and he will have been paid for those years of work beforehand.

Like all people who find themselves on the street with no work, ETC sends a letter to the person involved asking him if the reason for dismissal claimed by the employer is correct. It seems the magistrate did not know about the procedure.

From what I followed in the news, I understood that the nurse involved was told that Zammit Clapp Hospital didn’t write that he was dismissed on his ETC forms, so that it won’t spoil his employment record.

I expect the CGMO to file an appeal.

Nobody in Malta bothered to strike. No union took to the streets to lament the dire situation of its members.

No professionals took to the streets because public funds have been exhausted. People have protested in neighbouring Italy, Greece, Germany, Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium and other European countries.

I only saw people shopping and having lunch in Valletta today.

In other European capitals people were protesting (rightly and wrongly is quite beside the point) against what they perceived to be measures which are depriving them of their livelihoods.

It is also telling that not even the Union tried to organise some action (along the same lines, not some pathetic conference).

Had I not followed the matter on international news, I would not have known what was planned for today in Europe.

I really believe that this absolute silence is telling on how the Maltese really view their lives in Malta, more than any opinion poll.

Why is the court liquidating the salary in respect of future years when the guy can find an alternative employment?

Shouldn’t the AG appeal this case?

On his Facebook:
“INZERTAJT LABURIST TAL-AZZAR………HAZBUNI GWEJJED……….HAZBU LI JISTAW JINTINIDAWNI………..HADU ZBALL. Grazzi hbieb tal messaggi……….qatt ma kelli daqsekk windows fuq il-laptop…………..INKOMPLU NISTENNEW BIS-SABAR.”

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20121114/local/former-nurse-awarded.445370