An employer was convicted 10 September 2026 of blocking a journalist's union bid, Principal Magistrate Cheung Chi Wai David ruled, but cleared over her dismissal.
She had worked as a reporter for an international newspaper since March 2022. In May 2024 she decided to run for chairperson of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, a registered trade union. Hong Kong law makes it a criminal offence for an employer to block or punish an employee for that kind of union activity. The case is cited as [2026] HKMagC 9.
Unusually, she brought the prosecution herself. She filed it in December 2024, just ahead of the legal deadline for doing so, after neither the Labour Department nor the Department of Justice had acted on her complaint. She told the court she would have pursued it regardless of any financial settlement, because she wanted it to set an example for other employers in Hong Kong.
Once her candidacy became known in June 2024, her supervisor called and told her the role was not compatible with her job, adding that permission would have to come from the company's New York office. Days later the same supervisor texted asking her to step down from another union post she held, then told her: "you can't remain employed with us if you go ahead with this." Soon after, an HR manager put it in writing by email: "you will not receive the company's approval to pursue this role."
The magistrate found that requiring her to seek approval that would never have been granted, backed by...
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