Teacher sacked over Facebook comments made during 2019 Hong Kong protests granted judicial review
- High Court rules Toffee Tam’s application for judicial review was reasonably arguable
- Tam, who spent 27 years in the civil service, was fired in July and stripped of all retirement benefits
The High Court on Thursday ruled Toffee Tam Yuk-fun’s application for a judicial review was on its face reasonably arguable, based on written submissions filed by her legal counsel three days ago.
Tam, who spent 27 years in the civil service, was fired in July and stripped of all retirement benefits after an internal inquiry found her guilty of misconduct.
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Disciplinary proceedings last year concluded that Tam had “fallen short of the standards of a teacher” and “brought the government into disrepute” with messages posted on her Facebook account between June and September 2019.
The former educator came under attack that year by a pro-Beijing newspaper, which accused her of fostering hatred towards police by posting “vicious” and “vengeful” remarks about officers and their families.
The judicial review filing did not disclose the offensive statements Tam allegedly made that led to the inquiry.
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The filing said Tam, who last taught at the Jockey Club Government Secondary School in Kowloon Tong, became “heavily traumatised by the continuous acts of doxxing against her” since her personal views were made known to the public.
She went on sick leave on September 6 that year before she was suspended pending disciplinary proceedings.
Civil service minister Ingrid Yeung Ho Poi-yan in July adopted recommendations made by the secretariat on civil service discipline to fire Tam and for her to forfeit all her retirement entitlements, as well as leave and emoluments earned during her suspension.
The decision was made notwithstanding a medical report suggesting Tam had a psychiatric condition at the time of the incident, the court was told.
In applying for a judicial review, Tam’s lawyers argued her online comments were issued privately and would have never been publicised had it not been for the “unauthorised dissemination of the Facebook posts by unknown persons to the public”.
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They said Tam should not be penalised for an act which was “neither intended nor caused by her”.
Counsel pointed to Tam’s impeccable track record and a lack of evidence that her remarks had prevented her from discharging her professional duties.
Instead, Tam’s dismissal amounted to an unjustifiable intrusion into her right to freedom of expression and privacy, her lawyers contended.
“In the context of the present case, any punishment imposed should not be so heavy as to constitute a disproportionate interference with those fundamental rights,” they said.
The court has yet to fix a date to hear full arguments from Tam and the Civil Service Bureau.
