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In Pécs, a lawsuit has been initiated by Zsolnay Porcelánmanufaktúra Zrt. against its 118 former employees, who, according to the company’s management, left the factory with special notice.
As we reported, on June 7, 80% of Zsolnay’s employees, threatened with liquidation, resigned and immediately transferred to Ledina Kerámia Kft., created by the Municipality of Pécs. In a statement, the leavers justified their move by saying that a tax investigation against Zsolnay was ongoing, and therefore the employees felt their future was in danger. As a result of the mass evacuation, the plant was shut down for several days. Zsolnay subsequently repaid its debts and restarted production, while the tax investigation has so far not produced results that can be shared with the public. The company filed a lawsuit against the workers who left in large numbers, because, according to Zsolnay’s managers, their reasons for leaving were unfounded and the shutdown caused the plant losses of about $100 million.
The trial of eight former employees of the ceramics factory began on Friday at the Pec Labor Court, but only one person appeared in court. He claimed that on June 7, Zsolnay workers were informed by Ledina managers that the owner of the factory, Syrian-born Bachar Najari, would not repay the company’s hundreds of millions of dollars in debt and would move production abroad. Therefore, those who wanted to continue their profession and work locally should immediately transfer to Ledina. According to the defendants, the reasons for the termination of the contract were not raised by the departing employees, but by Ledina’s lawyers, not by the resigners, who accepted the offer for livelihood reasons.
By the way, the municipality defended the creation of the municipality of Ledina by saying that it wanted to preserve the 150-year-old production culture of Zsolnay, which is connected to the city, and provide jobs for workers at the porcelain factory. But according to informed sources, the leaders of the ruling party of the municipality, which owns a minority stake in Zsolnay, turned against the owners of the majority stake, because they wanted to take back the factory and then give it to an economic interest group that is on good terms with Fidesz. The testimony of the defendants, who appeared separately in court, reinforced this hypothesis.
One of Ledina’s indirect owners, János Bozóki, initiated the registration of a trademark for the Zsolnay brand in his own name on September 1. The managers of Zsolnay Zrt. took notice of this and took legal action against the registration. If they do not do so, then Ledina, which has been paying its employees for four months without work, can produce the products under the Zsolnay brand itself. Zsolnay has issued a statement in response and said that Bozóki is experienced in setting up offshore companies, maintains a confidential relationship and has a business relationship with lawyer Iván Szabó, who is one of the main organizers of the fight against Zsolnay by the Municipality of Pécs.
The lawsuit between Zsolnay and the employees who left on special notice will continue next week. If the court finds that the employees resigned without cause and the company is entitled to compensation, then the city government will pay the compensation on behalf of the employees, as promised by the organizers who deceived the employees, the Page leaders mentioned. The question is how such a takeover can be legally legitimized.
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