The 20th Judgment .. Court Orders Al-Treeq Newspaper to Compensate an Arbitrarily Dismissed Journalist in the Amount of EGP 131,000
The Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights (ECESR) has obtained a new judgment from the Specialized Labor Court, North Giza, ordering Al-Treeq Newspaper, which is affiliated with Al-Safwa Company for Journalism, Printing, and Publishing, to pay a journalist a total amount of EGP 131,793 as compensation for her arbitrary (unlawful) dismissal, in addition to payment in lieu of the notice period and the cash equivalent of her accrued and unused annual leave.
The judicial dispute dates back to 20 April 2024, when the journalist was taken by surprise upon being prevented from entering the newspaper’s premises and denied the right to perform her professional duties by the institution’s security personnel, without any legitimate or lawful justification. The defense characterized this conduct as a clear violation of the provisions of the Egyptian Labor Law governing employment relations between press institutions and their employees. Accordingly, the journalist promptly initiated legal action by filing an official incident report documenting the denial of access at the competent police station, followed by submitting a formal complaint to the Agouza Labor Office to safeguard her legal rights.
Following the failure of amicable settlement efforts before the Labor Office, the complaint was referred to the Specialized Labor Court, North Giza, for adjudication on the merits. After the case was heard and the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights submitted its legal pleadings establishing the occurrence of arbitrary dismissal, the Court rendered its judgment at the session held on 31 December 2025, affirming the journalist’s entitlement to the prescribed financial compensation and underscoring the statutory protections afforded to workers against unjustified termination.
Over the past period, the Center’s legal team has successfully secured compensation judgments in nineteen (19) cases in favor of male and female journalists employed by Al-Tareeq Newspaper, with total awards exceeding EGP 800,000, covering compensation for arbitrary dismissal, payment in lieu of notice, outstanding wages, and accrued leave balances.
The journalists had previously been taken by surprise in November 2023, when they were prevented from carrying out their work and denied access to the newspaper’s premises by security personnel, without any lawful justification, in contravention of the Labor Law, the Law Regulating the Press, and the established nature of journalistic work.
