Illegal Staff Selection Policy in Kutaisi City Hall

Shorena Kakabadze, Kutaisi

Svetlana Zakarashvili, a former chief  specialist for calculating figures for financial reports at the Finance Department of Kutaisi City Hall has been trying to restore justice for the last year and a half now. The City Hall dismissed her on the ground that the administration staff was being cut. However, 8 new employees have been appointed in the Finance Department since Svetlana Zkarashvili was dismissed.

The representatives of the Republic Party in the city of Kutaisi claim that Svetlana Zakarashvili’s case is neither the first nor the last. For a long time the staff selection policy has been based on political party affiliation in the Kutaisi City Hall.  Moreover, the City Hall did not obey the verdict of the court  and did not restore Svetlana Zakarashvili to her job..

“The Kutaisi city administration made another illegal decision and ignored the verdict of the Supreme Court  returning Svetlana Zakarashvili to her position in the City Hall. She was dismissed on the ground of staff cutting. However, several new employees were appointed in the City Hall due to the National Movement representatives’ interference during the  period when Svetlana Zakarashvili was dismissed.  Overall  8 employees were appointed in the City Hall after Svetlana was dismissed. 5 of them are former employees of the Kutaisi City Hall,” said Nato Katamadze, the chairperson of the Kutaisi Committee of the Republic Party.

Almost all levels of courts considered Zakarashvili’s case. In the end her suit was upheld. On May 20, 2008 the Supreme Court invalidated the  November 29, 2007 decision of the Kutaisi Court of Appeals  and ordered that the Court of Appeals adjudicated the case once again. Both the appellant (Svetlana Zakarashvili) and the defendant (the Kutaisi City Hall) appealed the verdict to the Cassation Court. The court did not change the previous verdict.

The Kutaisi Court of Appeals upheld the appeals of Svetlana Zakarashvili and the Kutaisi City Hall on October 20, 2008 but not fully. The court verdict reads: “1. The April 20, 2007order of the Kutaisi City Hall  on dismissal of S. Zakarashvili shall be declared void. 2. After having investigated and evaluated the dismissal of Svetlana Zakarashvili, the Kutaisi City Hall shall issue a new document on the dismissal, bringing S. Zarashvili back to work and provding her compensation for the missed work time.”    

The Kutaisi City Hall issued an order on April 6, 2009  dismissing Zakarashvili for the second time despite the decision of the Kutaisi Court of Appeals. Zakarashvili appealed the dismissal to the Kutaisi City Council.

“On June 24, 2009 the Kutaisi City Council did not grant my application to invalidate the Kutaisi City Hall dismissal of April 6, 2009. The City Council considered my request groundless. I will continue fighting and will prove that the Kutaisi city administration makes biased decisions,” says Svetlana Zakarasvhili.

The Kutaisi City Hall claims that their procedures were in compliance with the law and there was nothing to discuss. The lawyers of the Republic Party serve as Zakarashvili’s attorneys. They say that in several days they will submit another suit to the Kutaisi City Court.