“Honestly speaking, I didn’t really want to do it, but my colleagues from the unions said that despite the fact that it won’t be easy, it’s necessary. We agreed that a lawsuit needs to be filed,” Kovačič is quoted as saying by the čas.sk website.
His decision was welcomed by the trade union at TV Markíza. “We welcome the decision of our former colleague and chairman Michal Kovačič to file a lawsuit against Markíza television to determine the invalidity of the termination of his employment,” said the trade unionists for the website aktuality.sk. “It is not possible to dismiss a member of a trade union body without the consent of the trade union organization, and we also supported our disagreement with extensive arguments. We are ready to provide Michal with full cooperation in providing evidence,” added the trade unionists.
Forty-one-year-old Kovačič was a trade union leader on the most watched Slovak television, and according to the Labor Code, he could not be fired without the consent of the trade union. However, the law allows the court to decide on the validity of the dismissal in a possible dispute if it finds that the employer cannot be fairly required to continue employing the dismissed employee.
Michal Kovačič and employees of TV Markíz
In his program this May, Kovačič criticized the management of TV Markíz and warned against censorship and the so-called Orbanization of the media in Slovakia, i.e. before the government took control of the media following the example of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. According to the television management, the moderator abused the live broadcast and Kovačič was fired for a gross violation of work discipline. The television management emphasized that TV Markíza, like all stations of the CME group, follows the principles of the CME Editorial Board for objective, impartial and factual reporting.
About a hundred Markíza television employees went on strike alert and expressed their support for Kovačič. Television editors have previously complained about interference in their work by management.
