Ministers and President weigh in on Korhonen case
Liisa Hyssälä
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Matti Vanhanen
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Stefan Wallin
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Tarja Cronberg
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Tarja Halonen
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Minister of Social Affairs and Health Liisa Hyssälä (Centre) says that Finland still has work to do in the realm of sexual equality.
“There has been movement forward, but there are still challenges”, said Hyssälä on Thursday in Luxembourg, where she was attending a meeting of EU ministers.
On the Lapin Kansa furore she said that she knew only what she had seen in the media so far.
Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) said on Thursday during Parliamentary Question Time that it would be in the public interest for the matter concerning the recruitment of an editor-in-chief for Lapin Kansa to get a thorough hearing.
Vanhanen noted that the legal process can bring clarity to the events concerning Alma Media’s decision to sack Johanna Korhonen, who had been previously appointed to the post, but that faster methods would be worth considering as well.
Minister of Labour Tarja Cronberg (Green) felt that it is a problem that discrimination at work is often never brought to court.
Stefan Wallin, the Minister for Equality Affairs (Swed. People’s Party) said that political activism by a spouse is not legitimate grounds to sack someone. Wallin made his comments in an interview with the late-edition newspaper Ilta-Sanomat.
“Political action is a fundamental right in Finland”, Wallin said in the interview. “If an editor is personally active in politics, it can be a challenge to his or her credibility. But that a spouse should not be allowed to be active, that I do not understand.”
Wallin notes in the online edition of Ilta-Sanomat that since the early 1990s Finnish legislation has forbidden discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and that EU rules on discrimination do the same.
President Tarja Halonen commented briefly on the dispute between Alma Media and Johanna Korhonen during a press conference held during a visit to Tampere.
The President was asked if a person’s sexual orientation can be a valid reason to terminate someone’s employment.
“In that I can refer to professors of labour law and say that it is not. The view is quite clear. As I understand it, the employer has said that this was not the issue, and that political activity was, but I will not start solving that.”
According to President Halonen, the matter should be resolved in court. Korhonen has said that she will bring the case to court. President Halonen notes that it is the obligation of an employer to prove that there was a special reason for the termination.
“What is positive in the debate has been the awareness of people, and the general view that the law does not allow this”, Halonen said.
“I was certainly startled to read this.”
More on this subject:
 Lapin Kansa journalists demand resignation of Alma Media CEO and paper's editor
Helsingin Sanomat
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