By Daisy CL Mandap
A Filipina
domestic worker who fought for a year to get relief from the beating inflicted
by her female employer has left Hong Kong after
agreeing to settle her case for $52,000 - the amount she would have made had
she finished the remaining 12 months of her contract.
Before this,
Margie A was paid $10,600 by her Chinese employer, Lucy L, for unpaid wages,
one month’s salary in lieu of notice, air ticket, annual leave and traveling
allowance.
Margie had just completed
the first half of her two-year employment when the assault happened on
Nov. 8 last year.
By the time the
settlement was reached, however, she had already spent nearly a year at the
Bethune House Migrant Women’s Refuge, which helped her pursue her case. She
returned to the Philippines on
Nov. 6.
In exchange for her withdrawing her complaint, Lucy wrote a letter of apology and was bound over, meaning she was not charged but undertook not to re-offend for a set period of time.
Before leaving, Margie tried to find a new employer but failed. Bethune’s executive director Edwina Antonio said this was regrettable, as they could have asked Immigration to allow Margie to process a new employment contract in
Hong Kong had she managed to get someone to sign her up on time.
 |
Photos show the injuries Margie suffered
from the assault |
Still, she said Margie’s case showed fighting for one’s rights pays off in Hong Kong,.
“Kahit matagal ang paghihintay, kailangang ipaglaban,” Antonio said.
Aside from getting free shelter and legal assistance from Bethune House and the Mission for Migrant Workers, Margie was also helped in collecting a total of US$600 as subsistence allowance from the insurance she was required to take before leaving the Philippines.
A Filipina domestic worker who fought for a year to get
relief from the beating she suffered at the hands of her female employer has
left Hong Kong after agreeing to settle her
case for $51,720 - the amount she would have made had she finished the remaining 12 months of her contract.
Margie A had already completed the first half of her two-year contract with her Chinese employer, Lucy L., when the assault happened on Nov. 8 last year. Lucy offered an apology and the compensation so prosecutors would agree to having her bound over instead of being
prosecuted by the police.
By the time the settlement was reached, however, Margie had already spent nearly a year at the Bethune House
Migrant Women’s Refuge, which helped her pursue her case. She returned to the Philippines on Nov. 6.
Before leaving, Margie tried to find a new employer but
failed. Bethune’s executive director Edwina Antonio said this was regrettable,
as they could have asked Immigration to allow Margie to process a new employment contract
in Hong Kong had she managed to get someone to sign her up on
time.
Still, she said Margie’s case showed fighting for one’s
rights pays off in Hong Kong,.
“Kahit matagal ang paghihintay, kailangang ipaglaban,”
Antonio said.
 |
Antonio (right) in one of the outreach missions
of Bethune House |
Aside from getting free shelter and legal assistance from
Bethune House and the Mission for Migrant
Workers, Margie was also helped in collecting a total of US$600 as subsistence
allowance from the insurance she was required to take before leaving the Philippines.
Margie, 42 and married, first found help after alert fellow
domestic workers urged her to go to the Philippine Consulate to complain after
her earlier attempt to get the police to investigate failed.
According to the statement she gave to officers at the
Central Police station, the assault happened exactly a
year after she started working for Lucy and her two daughters in their house in
Carribean Coast, Tuen Mun.
Margie said that early that day, the employer had accused her of not packing a
snack for her elder daughter, and kept shouting at her even when she tried to
explain that it was the girl who did not want to bring along the sandwich and
drink she had prepared.
After taking down her younger daughter to her school bus,
Lucy reportedly went back to the house and continued to scold Margie.
“She
stared at me, not contented with the
shouting and pushed me against the kids’ door,” said Margie.
That reportedly caused Margie’s back to slam hard against
the door, and she fell to the floor. She told Lucy to stop or she would call
the police. Margie then rushed into the children’s room to pick up her HK ID
card and mobile phone but Lucy pulled her hair as she tried to get to the main
door.
“She caught up and tried to snatch my mobile phone but I did
not give it. Then she held my neck with both hands. I escaped to the toilet,
but she chased after me. I locked the toilet door,” Margie said in the
statement.
After some time, Margie said she heard her employer leave
then take a shower in the other toilet in the house. She said she ran down to
the building’s lobby and asked the caretaker for help.
Police were called, but after talking to her and her
employer, the two officers reportedly took no action, and merely told Margie to
ask for a release letter from Lucy as they could no longer work together.
After the police left, Margie said she asked Lucy for a
release letter but she said she had no time to do it.
At around 9:30am, Margie accompanied Lucy as usual to Lai
Chi Kok to bring lunch boxes to the two girls in their school. Since they were
running late, Margie walked ahead of Lucy.
On her way to the MTR station, a couple of Filipino domestic
workers saw Margie crying and asked why. After hearing her story and seeing her
bruises, they all urged her to go to the Consulate and even gave her money for
her fare as she did not have her wallet with her.
But despite feeling the pain from her wounds, Margie still
went ahead to deliver her wards’ lunch boxes first before making her escape.
At the Consulate, staff interviewed her, then
called the police who took her to Queen
Mary Hospital
for a medical check-up. Afterwards, she went to the police station to file her
complaint.
Lucy was arrested and charged with “assault occasioning
bodily harm.”
Margie said in her statement that it was the first time Lucy
had hit her, but she told friends the businesswoman and single mother was
always cranky. Luckily, the employer was always traveling for work that they
did not have much interaction.
On May 6 this year, the Police sent Margie a letter stating
that the Department of Justice had informed them that Lucy “sincerely
regretted...her wrongdoing,” and had asked to be bound over as a way to resolve
the case.
To show her remorse, the employer offered to write a letter
of apology and compensate Margie for the income she should have earned from the
remaining part of her contract, “and any other terms you consider reasonable.”
After weighing all her options, Margie decided to agree to
the offer. At the same time, she held on to the hope that she could start anew
with another employer, but time was not on her side.
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