Vaasa Court of Appeal orders Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences to compensate employee for disability discrimination

The Vaasa Court of Appeal has overturned a previous ruling from the Central Finland District Court and ordered Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences (JAMK) to compensate an employee for discrimination based on disability. In 2019, the university denied the employee the opportunity to work remotely, despite the fact that he had been successfully telecommuting since 2005. The employee had been with JAMK since the mid-1990s and terminated his employment last year.

JAMK argued that the employee could perform his duties without remote work. However, a witness in court, an occupational health physician, testified that he had submitted a total of four reports indicating that remote work was the only viable option for the employee.

The court concluded that JAMK failed to sufficiently demonstrate that the employee’s remote work should have been terminated at the university’s discretion. As a result, JAMK was ordered to pay the employee €20,000 in damages along with nearly €37,000 in legal costs.

Following the decision, JAMK issued a statement indicating that it would not appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court. The university had previously been found guilty of discrimination in 2016 when three lecturers were unlawfully dismissed.