(Minghui.org) A judge ruled on January 25, 2025, that a Beijing man “had no standing” in bringing a lawsuit against a local board of education.
Mr. Liu Yaping, around 56, filed a lawsuit against the Pinggu District Board of Education on July 26, 2024 because the agency suspended his pay and stopped making contributions to his pension account from October 6, 2022 to June 17, 2023, because he practices Falun Gong.
Falun Gong is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
The Wangxinzhuang Court in Pinggu District held a hearing on December 10, 2024. Judge Li Dongjie concurred with Mr. Liu and said that the Pinggu District Board of Education should reinstate his pay. Chairperson Chen Yunjian of the Board replied that they consulted with their higher-ups and were told that his pay would not be reinstated.
Judge Li adjourned the session and ruled on January 21, 2025 to dismiss the case. The reason he gave was that Mr. Liu “sued the wrong party and had no standing.” Mr. Liu suspects that the Pinggu District Political and Legal Affairs Committee, an extra-judicial agency tasked with overseeing the persecution, pressured Li into making this decision.
Mr. Liu was arrested on October 5, 2022, for practicing Falun Gong. The Pinggu District Procuratorate issued a notice on November 10, 2022 to immediately release him. The police, however, refused to free him unconditionally and placed him on one-year bail. They detained him again for several hours on May 10, 2023, installed two surveillance cameras on his door two months later and had people staked outside his home to monitor him.
Mr. Liu’s bail ended on November 11, 2023. The Pinggu District Police Department chief signed an order that day to clear him of prosecution and destroy all the Falun Gong books and informational materials they seized when he was arrested in October 2022 and in May 2023, but to return other confiscated items, including his computer and printer. It’s not known whether the surveillance cameras were removed from his door.
From October 6, 2022 to June 17, 2023, the Pinggu District Board of Education suspended Mr. Liu’s pay and stopped making contributions to his pension account because he practices Falun Gong. They did not issue a stipend to help him make ends meet. Additionally, they lowered his pay grade (which is used to calculate his future retirement benefits) and eventually fired him from the Huangsongyu Middle School. He was later hired as temporary teacher at the Nandulehe Kindergarten affiliated with the Nandulehe Elementary School. All three schools are under the administration of the Pinggu District Board of Education.
On May 7, 2024, Mr. Liu filed an application for the arbitration of labor and personnel disputes with the Pinggu District Arbitration Commission. He asked that the Pinggu District Board of Education reimburse his pay that was suspended for eight months (October 6, 2022 to June 17, 2023).
The Commission held a meeting on June 24, 2024. The Pinggu District Board of Education presented fabricated evidence to justify its suspension of Mr. Liu’s pay. The Commission later ruled against Mr. Liu and wrote in its decision that he was still issued monthly stipends during those eight months in question, even though the board of education representative admitted at the June 24th meeting that they never gave him any stipends during the eight-month pay suspension period.
Mr. Liu filed a civil lawsuit against the Pinggu District Board of Education on July 26, 2024. The Pinggu District Court heard the case on December 10, 2024 and ruled to dismiss the case on January 21, 2025.
Beijing Man Sues Board of Education for Pay Suspension and Wrongful Termination