By Vir B. Lumicao
 |
| Erwiana outside court with case worker Cynthia Tellez |
Indonesian former domestic worker Erwiana Sulistyaningsih was
back in court on Dec 4 as she pressed for more than $800,000 civil claim for
damages against her abusive erstwhile employer.
The hearing, originally set for three days, lasted only half a day
after District Court Judge Winnie Tsui refused a bid by defendant Law Wan Tung,
who appeared without a lawyer, for a court review of a ream of documents she
presented from her trial in 2015.
Law, who was jailed for six years for the assault on
Sulistyaningsih, claimed the documents would show the helper’s injuries were
not as serious as she had claimed.
Sulistyaningsih is seeking damages totaling more than $809,430
for loss of income, physical and psychological injuries, as well as other
losses she had suffered for about seven months of almost daily physical
assaults from Law.
 |
| Law during her trial in 2015 |
Law said the court documents showed inconsistencies in the medical
reports that could help reduce the amount of damages she would have to pay.
Tsui asked Law why she did not bring the bundle despite a
letter sent to her by the court on Nov 17, informing her about the hearing and
advising her to bring the court bundle.
Law said she did not speak English well and was not given a lawyer to defend herself in the civil case.
She accused the Hong Kong
government of being unfair to her while favoring foreigners, implying that
while her Legal Aid application was denied,
Sulistiyaningsih was given a lawyer to pursue her case.
“The Hong Kong government
has been unfair to me. Why does the foreigner get a legal aid while I cannot?”
she asked.
Law asked the court to consider the documents that she had
brought as evidence to prove she should pay less in damages, but Judge Tsui rejected
her application.
Sulistiyaningsih’s lawyer Tony Ko said Law was just trying
to derail the trial.
The employer, a former beauty salon worker who married an
investment banker, was convicted in February 2015 at the District Court of
committing multiple assaults against Sulistyaningsih, and not paying her wages
or giving her rest days.
On Ko’s application for costs for the half-day hearing, the
judge ordered Law to $10,000 on or before Dec 18.
The trial began at 11:30am with Sulistyaningsih taking the
witness stand to talk about the effects
of the physical abuse that she suffered from Law.
The helper said that she still consults a psychiatrist until
now, and would tremble and feel nervous each time she remembered the violence
committed against her.
Ko said that in calculating the damages, he looked at two
streams of cases: contact injuries and psychological injuries. In the first
case, damage claims ranged from $150,000 to $200,000 while in the second, it
was around $250,000.
Asked if she had something to say, Law told the court
Sulistiyaningsih arrived at her home with a disease in her legs which she would
always scratch. Because of that, she had difficulty walking and would always
fall or faint, said Law.
The jailed housewife added that Sulistiyaningsih’s posts on
Facebook in 2014 even showed her looking happy while attending a wedding party of
a family member.
