‘Justice for Joan’: Supporters of Filipino domestic helper who died of cervical cancer face legal hurdles in fight to ‘restore her dignity’

Joan Guting, who had late-stage cervical cancer and acute renal failure, was forced out to the streets in May 2017 after her employers suddenly dismissed her

Eight months after her death, Guting’s supporters are trying to seek damages for discrimination but say they face obstacles after the Legal Aid Department revoked legal aid for her case

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Joan Guting was a domestic helper in Hong Kong. Photo: Supplied

Published: 8:30am, 3 Apr 2019Updated: 8:44pm, 3 Apr 2019

Joan Guting, from the Philippines, had been working for her employers in Hong Kong for about two years when on the first day of May 2017, the domestic helper was told to sign a termination letter and then leave immediately.

It was past midnight, Guting was severely ill – she had been diagnosed with advanced cervical cancer and acute renal failure – and she had nowhere to go.

“When she called me, she was just crying and saying she needed help. She couldn’t really talk,” recalled Carla Temporosa, a domestic worker who has been in the city for 18 years.

Guting died last year before she could see the results of a discrimination case against her employer. Her supporters are still pushing for it, but they have faced hurdles in obtaining legal aid.

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“This is to restore dignity to her even after her death and to provide damages to her [three] surviving children,” lawyer Michael Vidler said.

“It is also to build up a body of case law, so people can know that if they behave in this manner, they can expect to face discrimination action,” he said.