THE executive director of rights group Licadho is the subject of two complaints set to be filed with the Ministry of Labour today, both from former employees who argue that their dismissals were not carried out in accordance with either their contracts or the Labour Law.

The complaints – from Sin Chenda, a nurse, and Sar Bopha, a former advocacy worker for the rights group – both demand US$5,000 in compensation for mental health damage allegedly resulting from the loss of their jobs.

Earlier this month, Pek Vannak, a lawyer formerly employed by Licadho, filed a lawsuit at Phnom Penh Municipal Court requesting that the group’s executive director, Naly Pilorge, pay him $5,112 as an indemnity for lost wages and $6,000 to compensate for mental damage arising from his dismissal last November.

Sin Chenda, the nurse, said Monday that she had worked for the rights group since 1993, and that she had done nothing to warrant her January dismissal.

“This Licadho director has decided because of her personal views to fire me from the position, and she at last fired me by saying that they need only doctors,” she said.

Sar Bopha, the advocacy worker, said she had been a worker since 1994, and that her contract, which was set to end in June, had been terminated prematurely last month.

Asked to comment on Monday, Naly Pilorge wrote in a text message: “I confirm that both employees, Chinda and Bopha, were given three months’ notice, full severance pay and benefits in late 2009 and early 2010 for ending their contract due to budgetary constraints. No one from the Ministry of Labour or [the municipal court] has informed me of any complaint.”