Serena Chen claims she was fired as she became chairman of the Hong Kong Journalists Association.
Shortly after Serena Chen became chairman of the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) in July 2024, the then-employed Wall Street Journal (WSJ) rejected her, citing “internal restructuring.”
She has since launched private prosecutions against her former employer with two charges, including “preventing employees from joining unions.”
The case was heard in Eastern District Court on February 13th.
The city’s Department of Justice (DOJ) considered whether to intervene in seeking an eight-week postponement, but Chen opposed, claiming that the DOJ had advised the prosecutor to the Department of Labor.
The WSJ also noted that more time is needed to obtain further instructions from overseas management.
Supreme Magistrate Don So Man Rungu eventually postponed it to April 22 for the next hearing.
Related Stories
Defendant Dow Jones Publishing (ASIA), the parent company of WSJ, is accused of two counts of violating employment ordinances. “The employer has terminated an employee’s employment agreement and punished or discriminated against the employee for exercising such rights.”
Chen is represented by Cat Nigel and Barista Azan Mawa, South Carolina. Nigel said that defendants required no defense that day to be needed as they needed time to consider the matter. He also expressed his opposition to the 8-week delay by the DOJ when considering whether to intervene in the prosecutor, saying the delay was “a considerable excess.”
He believes that DOJ received all relevant documents regarding the case in November 2024, and a delay of just two weeks was considered sufficient. He also said that the Labor Bureau had sought legal advice from the DOJ on December 6, 2024, with the latter recommending that the Labor Bureau not prosecute on December 20.
According to the DOJ Prosecutor’s Act, the Attorney General has the right to intervene in private prosecutor procedures, take over the prosecutor, become the party of the legal proceedings of the time, and replace the former prosecutor’s party. The Attorney General may refuse to continue the legal proceedings initiated by private prosecution or to sign a claim sheet or charge, thereby preventing the continuation of the above legal proceedings.
The defendant supported the eight-week postponement and said several staff members were involved in the case.
The magistrate questioned whether the case was urgent. Nigel noted that the incident is at stake and that it needs to be dealt with without delay as it is laying off employees involved in the union by international media.
Chen was elected chairman of the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) on June 22, 2024. On July 17th of the same year, she was fired by the WSJ on citing “internal restructuring.” Chen previously said that when the WSJ was reorganized in May, local reporters had expressed concern about the risks of processing reports of Hong Kong’s political news. Since then, she has been asked not to take part in such reports and to hand over Hong Kong’s political news to expatriate reporters.
When she learned of her decision to run for the HKJA chairman, WSJ asked her to withdraw from running, but she claimed she refused. Chen also allegedly told the company that if WSJ publicly announced that it had asked employees to withdraw from union elections, it would cause important media coverage, but she said the company had said it would “have it done.” He claimed he said he was ready to handle it.”
The city’s freedom of press has deteriorated since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) imposed the National Security Law (NSL) on Hong Kong. Many journalists have been arrested for NSL accusations and other crimes, including senior staff at Apple Daily and Stand News.
In the HKJA leadership election last June, parent media and Hong Kong government officials repeatedly put pressure on the association. Security Secretary Chris Tan Ping Keene denounced the candidate who had a record of “receiving money from the United States.” Several of the current elected executive committee members have decided to withdraw, including BBC journalist Danny Vincent.
