A Filipino domestic worker is pursuing more than HK$250,000 in damages from a former employer she says fired her after finding out she had cervical cancer.
The claim, filed by the Equal Opportunities Commission in the District Court, contends that Baby Jane Teodoro Allas was unlawfully dismissed once her diagnosis came to light. The sum sought, equivalent to about P1.9 million, is meant to cover lost income, medical expenses, and the emotional suffering tied to her termination. Allas died in 2021, and her sister, Mary Ann Allas Pereira, is now carrying the case forward as administrator of her estate.
At a June 25 assessment hearing, Pereira testified that her sister was handed a dismissal notice just days after her then-employer was told about her illness. The cancer, she said, appeared in the termination letter as one of the stated reasons for ending the employment.
According to Pereira, the loss of work left her sister emotionally shattered, often crying, eating irregularly, and pulling away from others while she pressed on with treatment. Allas remained in Hong Kong on a visitor visa to pursue her labor claims, continuing all the while to provide for five children in the Philippines.
Jessica Cutera, who gave Allas a place to stay after the dismissal, told the court she helped cover food and other costs as the worker struggled both financially and emotionally.
To assist its decision, the court viewed a documentary produced by the Hong Kong Federation of Asian Domestic Workers Unions.
As reported by The Standard, the defendant, Jamil Bushra, did not appear at any point in the proceedings and had failed to honor an earlier Labor Tribunal award of HK$30,000, over P235,000, that remains outstanding.
