Court Orders Newspaper to Pay Damages for Firing Gay Editor-in-Chief

The court ordered the paper's owner Pohjois-Suomen Media to pay 80,500 euros in damages and legal bills.

This includes 40,800 euros for wrongful dismissal, 34,600 euros in severance pay, 5,000 euros for violation of equality laws, as well as Korhonen's 30,000 euros' worth of legal bills.

Alma Media group, which owns the defendant company, thinks the verdict is unfair, and says Korhonen was not fired because of her sexual orientation. The company is considering applying for the right to appeal to the Supreme Court.

A member of Alma Media's management could now face a criminal charge over the dismissal. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration says the company's action is a case of illegal discrimination.

Ruling Overturns Lower Court Decision

Korhonen lost her case in a lower court last summer. At that time, the court found that her dismissal had more to do with a breach of trust by Korhonen than her sexual orientation. They ruled that the paper had a right to fire her because she prematurely announced her appointment as Editor-in-Chief, and did not inform the paper of her partner's political activity.

Korhonen had argued that her partner's political ambitions could not have been a factor because other Alma Media group employees were either politically active or had spouses with political careers.

Fired Before First Day of Work

Korhonen was fired as Editor-in-Chief in the fall of 2008, before she even officially took up her post at the helm of the newspaper. She claims that her new employer abruptly fired her when they discovered that her life partner is a woman.

Alma Media owns, for example, the tabloid Iltalehti and five provincial dailies including the Tampere-based Aamulehti.