Prague - A break-through discrimination case ended with a victory today of the state institution, Czech foreign ministry, won over its employee that sued it.

Adriana Bašovská, a former diplomat who worked in Libya and was released after an alleged security violation will not be paid one million crowns by the ministry that she requested. 

A regional court originally found her requests valid, today however Prague City Court came to an opposite decision.

"We have lost one battle but as far as I know we will appeal the decision and bring the case to the Supreme Court in Brno," Mrs. Bašovská's lawyer, Daniela Světlíková said.

Mrs. Bašovská sued the state because she lost her job for reasons that did not normally cause her male colleagues to be released.

The City Court however disputed this statement, pointing to a similar case when a male employee lost his job for similar reasons. This employee was suspected of a crime which Mrs. Bašovská was not. The court did not hold this fact for deciding though.

There has been at least one case in which the ministry of foreign affairs did the same to its male employee so the paragraph 7 of Labor Code cannot be applied," the head of the court senate, Jana Šrédlová said.

Paragraph 7 allows the victims of discrimination to ask for compensation from its employer.

Breaking security measures

Mrs. Bašovská worked at the Czech embassy in Libya between 1999 and 2000. She had to return to Prague after she broke security measures according to her supervisor.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not wait for the end decision by the Czech National Security Office and took away the security clearance from Adriana Bašovská. Without her security clearance she was not able to continue with her diplomacy work and she lost her job.

Her lawyer said in front of the senate that Mrs. Bašovská should have been offered the same as other colleagues - a transfer to some other department in which she would not be in touch with secret information.

"Another employee was waiting for his security check by the National Security Office on sick leave and on unpaid vacation that the ministry offered to him. My client was not offered such an opportunity," the lawyer said at the court.

There have been more similar cases in the past where the court decided in favor of the employer instead of the employee, as for example the case of Marie Čaušević. She applied for the finance director position at the gas providing company Pražská plynárenská. Čaušević is sure that she won the competition but was turned down because she is a woman.

The company, according to her, launched a new competition and selected a new winner - this time a man.