TUESDAY, 10.00AM
THE Labour Court is investigating its first ‘unfair dismissal’ case by a man who claims to have been sacked because he is gay.
Russell van den Berg told the Johannesburg Labur Court on Monday he was fired from his workplace — Hospitality Marketing International — because his boss found out he is gay. His boss, Peter Kastner, allegedly told Van den Berg: ”I don’t believe that a faggot can be trusted in a senior managerial position. You will never get anywhere in my organisation.”
Van den Berg says he was fired from his post as regional manager a week later. Van den Berg taped telephone conversations between himself and Kastner, which Kastner’s lawyers argue were obtained illegally. Mr Justice DA Basson ruled yesterday the tapes are admissable for the trial.