Lady Dewi Sukarno Loses Court Case Against Former Employee Who Refused to Come to Work

It was revealed through an interview with Friday Digital that Lady Dewi Sukarno (84) is engaged in a legal battle with a former employee of her company, Office Deva Sukarno, and is currently experiencing a series of defeats in labor arbitration and court cases.

The events leading to the lawsuit date back to three years ago, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“You no longer need to worry about meeting me. It was terminated last Friday (February 12).” (All quotes are excerpts from the lawsuit records.)

 

The reasons two employees were terminated.

On February 14, 2021, two veteran employees of the Devi office (hereinafter referred to as Mr. A and Mr. B) received an email from Madame Devi informing them of their termination, referred to as “discontinuation.” In response, Mr. A and Mr. B filed for labor arbitration. This marked the beginning of a legal battle between Madame Devi and the two former employees.

The reason for the termination of the two employees was Madame Devi’s trip to Indonesia.

On February 3, 2021, Madame Devi received the sad news of her son-in-law, Mr. Fritz’s sudden passing. Understanding the emotional state of her daughter, who had lost her husband at a young age, Madame Devi traveled to Indonesia the following day, February 4, to attend Mr. Fritz’s funeral. However, in February 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic was spreading rapidly worldwide, with Japan in the midst of its third wave and Indonesia reporting over 10,000 new cases daily.

Given this situation, the employees were concerned, wondering if Mr. Fritz had died from COVID-19. They feared that Madame Devi might return infected. Additionally, since Madame Devi’s residence was in the same building as the office, the employees felt an increased sense of urgency about avoiding contact with her while working. Consequently, they decided to hold a meeting and agreed that they would not come into the office for two weeks after Madame Devi’s return, opting for remote work instead. They communicated this plan to her when she returned to the office on February 12.

“You, what are you talking about? I’m not a pathogen or anything!”

The lady reportedly became furious. Furthermore,

“I’m sorry, but I have a much lower risk of infection than you all. You’re the ones who ride the train and the bus. (omission) It’s strange, you. If you’re that scared, you don’t have to come. This is such a hassle. I absolutely hate feeling this uncomfortable.”

 

After this backlash, the employees seemed unable to respond further. Following the incident, A, who is currently in a lawsuit with Ms. Devi, shared the following in a group LINE with other employees:

 

“Is the lady afraid of COVID? She called us weird for being scared, but I believe everyone recognizes that COVID can be a deadly disease, so not wanting to get it is a common sentiment. (omission) I don’t think I’ll see you all again. (omission) Thank you for everything.”

 

Then, on February 14, two days later, A and B received the aforementioned “termination notice” email from Ms. Devi.