Watchdog seeks HK$250,000 for family of late helper sacked during cancer battle

Hong Kong’s equality watchdog is seeking about HK$250,000 (US$31,900) in compensation for the family of a domestic helper who was sacked by her employer in 2019 after being diagnosed with advanced cervical cancer and later died.

The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) launched legal proceedings under the Disability Discrimination Ordinance in 2020 against Jamil Bushra for firing Baby Jane Allas in February 2019 while she was on medical leave.

According to the ordinance, it is unlawful for an employer to fire an employee on the grounds of their disability.

Five years after Allas died in 2021 at the age of 40 in her native Philippines, the District Court held a hearing on Thursday to assess how much compensation should be awarded to the late helper’s family. She is survived by five children.

The deceased’s younger sister, Mary Ann Allas Pereira, who is still working in Hong Kong as a domestic helper, earlier took over the proceedings.

The EOC accused Baby Jane Allas’s former employer of firing the deceased after asking for hospital documents as proof of her condition. She was earlier diagnosed with cervical cancer after undergoing a biopsy.