ACRI represented a migrant worker in the field of nursing, who claimed compensation from the state after the Population and Immigration Authority crudely invaded her privacy.
The worker, a citizen of the Philippines, met a man who was also a migrant worker, and as a result of their relationship, she gave birth to a baby in Israel. After sending the newborn to her family in the Philippines, the father disappeared and contact was severed. Yet the Population and Immigration Authority conditioned her residence and work permits on invasive and degrading statements and commitments. Among other things, the worker was required to report any changes in her intimate life to the Authority, and to stay at her employer's house 24 hours a day, 6 days a week.
After the migrant worker appealed to the Court of Appeals, the Authority backed down on their demands and granted her a residence and work permit. Yet in the meantime, it became evident that the Authority had contacted her employer and the employer's daughter, without the migrant workers’ knowledge and consent, giving them personal information about her life to investigate her intimate life through them. Accordingly, the worker filed a claim for compensation in the amount of NIS 75,000.
After the Magistrates' Court dismissed the claim, we filed an appeal on behalf of the plaintiff to the District Court in Tel Aviv-Jaffa. We claimed that the degrading and invasive conditions that were put forth as a condition for renewing the appellant’s license, which put her at risk of deportation and dismissal, along with the involvement of her employer and employers’ daughter in her personal life, all constitute a violation of the appellant's fundamental rights to privacy, autonomy, family life, livelihood, and dignity.
At the hearing held on March 24, 2022, the court recommended that the state reach a compromise with the worker. On May 15, 2022, the parties signed a compromise agreement according to which the worker will receive compensation in the amount of NIS 15,000, in addition to the reimbursement of court fees.