Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Lennart Eriksson Has Won His Case

Evidence emerged yesterday that there are still sane people in Sweden.

At least one, that is. An unnamed judge in the country’s judicial system has ruled in favor of Lennart Eriksson, an employee of the Board of Migration who was demoted for his political beliefs.

I reported last month on Mr. Eriksson’s case. He was demoted from his position on the Migration Board for privately expressing admiration for the United States and supporting Israel’s right to exist. These opinions are considered so far beyond the pale in Sweden’s official circles that Lennart Eriksson was deemed unfit to perform his duties.

However, he took his employer to court and has won his case. Here’s a press release about the final result, via Tundra Tabloids:

Swedish Board of Migration Loses Landmark Court Case

A year ago, Lennart Eriksson, an asylum unit manager at the Swedish Board of Migration was demoted because he privately expressed admiration for US WW2 General Patton, because he regarded the US as a democracy and because he supported Israel’s right to exist.

Lennart Eriksson took his employer to court on the grounds of wrongful dismissal. Today the court reached its verdict: Lennart Eriksson has won his case on every count.

The court’s verdict is as follows:

The court regards the demotion of Lennart Eriksson as a clear case of attempted dismissal and concludes that this dismissal is illegal.

The court orders the Swedish Board of Migration to pay Eriksson damages to the tune of 100,000 Swedish kronor plus interest.

The Swedish Board of Migration has been ordered to pay Lennart Eriksson’s legal expenses in full, to the tune of almost 150,000 Swedish kronor plus interest.
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Collapsed defence

The court did not find the defence arguments put forward by the Swedish Board of Migration to be valid. Palmér had called into question Eriksson’s ability to cooperate in the workplace, but all Eriksson’s previous managers and colleagues had the highest of praise for the ease with which he interacted with everyone at work.

Conservative politics “unorthodox”

Eugène Palmér had commented on the fact that Eriksson is a Conservative, saying that this was “rather unorthodox”. In this context it is worth mentioning that the ruling government coalition in Sweden is led by the Conservative party.

The court found in Eriksson’s favour that he had been demoted because he expressed, in his private time, opinions in support of democracy and because he was a Conservative, two viewpoints that appeared to be at odds with those of his manager, Eugène Palmér. The court found that Eriksson’s demotion was a discriminatory measure. In its ruling the court found that the demotion was an illicit means of coercing Eriksson to leave his job owing to his private political beliefs in democracy and his Conservative politics in a country governed by a Conservative-led coalition.

Discrimination and other illegal practices

The court also found that as part of the Migration Board’s discriminatory treatment of its employee, Eriksson had been receiving a lower than normal salary. The fact that Eugène Palmér offered Eriksson two years’ full pay if he resigned was taken by the court as a sign that the aim from the very outset had been to get rid of Eriksson.

Swedish Migration Board bases its policies on Hollywood movies

In a move highly unusual by Swedish standards, Eriksson’s request for compensation and full legal costs was ratified by the court without any reduction. This may be interpreted as an indication of the court’s feelings about the Swedish Board of Migration and its top officer, Eugène Palmér. Palmér said in court that Eriksson was unsuitable for his job because of Eriksson’s view that US WW2 general Patton was a great general, whereas Palmér knew for a fact that Patton was a disloyal and insubordinate officer because he “once saw a Hollywood movie about this”.

It’s interesting that the Migration Board, for all its loathing of things American, cited a Hollywood movie as justification for its actions.

Perhaps irony is unknown in Sweden.

6 comments:

Joanne said...

"...because he “once saw a Hollywood movie about this”."


Well Palmer does have a point - Hollywood wouldn't lie. Does anyone know the heimlich maneuver - I think I am choking.

It is good to see that not all sanity has left Sweden.

laine said...

Every time I think "Now I've heard everything", it turns out that I've heard nothing yet compared to what's coming.

The lefty bureaucrat thought the red agenda had advanced far enough that he could with impunity be open about dismissing someone for "being "conservative" despite his nominal elected masters' party name. Perhaps with a different judge, he would have been correct...

ɱØяñιηg$ʇðя ©™ said...

No, irony is not unknown here, not generally anyway, although political correct people seem to lack a sense for it, both swedes and other nationalities.

Félicie said...

These leftists are basically Stalinists. They are not interested in promoting freedom, open discourse, and democracy, despite all their rhetoric. As soo as they are in the majority, they behave like thugs and dictators. The totalitarian mindset of this person, Palmer, is unbelievable. This is all very scary. Poor Sweden. Poor United States as well, because this is what will be coming there with Osama's presidency.

Afonso Henriques said...

"Lennart Eriksson Has Won His Case"

Damn, he must have got a great lawyer. Like that American with a pretty daughter... from... The Shark or something...

no2liberals said...

Fascinating!
I do have one question, though.
Has he been made whole?
I see he has been given compensation, and legal fees, but what of his job?
Is he to be reinstated, or given a new job in the Swedish bureaucracy?
I wonder if Palmer will retain his position or face any disciplinary actions?
Sorry for all the questions.
I don't wish to diminish the victory of free speech and personal liberty, over totalitarian group think.