Polish is suing because she cannot speak english!!!

Here is an article that tell sof a Polish cleaner who is claiming compensation due to the fact she cannot speak english. She claims that she could not read her contract before signing it, she did sign it however and has now decided to take action and claim that 'not speaking english' is a disability. I'm about to eat my tea so i'll give you my views later, i'm very interested to know what both the Polish and non-polish of the forum think about this story

thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1507522.ece

Pole claims compo for her bad English

bollocks

A contract is a legal document, if she didnt speak English, she was stupid to sign it.

Though again you could argue why did they employ someone who didnt speak English.

I have had a contract in poland for the past 2 years, only yesterday i discovered what was in it...

lol....right....that reminds me the lawsuit of a woman who burned her fingers because it wasn't written 'HOT' on a cup...

I was once under investigation cos i hired a cleaner who had an allergic reaction to most cleaning products.

I'm more concerned that tornado is having his tea at ten in the evening. :)

ok, some Poles were scammed into working for less than half of the minimum wage. who conned them? a fellow Pole. this is brilliant. i think that if anything they should fight with their employer for the right to the money that wasn't paid to them because they should've been paid at least the minimum wage. but claiming that being unable to speak a foreign language is a disability simply beggars belief. i hope they lose, that'll teach them not to sign something that they don't understand. once you put your signature on a document you are responsible for whatever happens as a result, it's like complaining you didn't read the small print. morons.

Quote of the fortnight.

right, I should sue my bank, landlord, woia woda, urzad miasta, era and orange then! My contracts are in polish :D

That's total madness of course but If you have stupid law then there will be people doing such things.


Go get the bustards :):)

She hasn't a hope in hell. She's signed a legal document. If she was unsure about it she should have taken it home and found out a bit more about it.

They shouldn't be paying by the room anyway. Every room is different, maybe different sizes or different states (depending who stayed there). Seems she's working for a dodgy company and she should take them.

However, never sign a contract unless you've read and understood it and if you don't understand it, don't sign until you've gone over it with someone who understands it and whom you trust!

I concur.

Ok so i've been away for a while and eaten my tea :)

My veiw on the whole situation is rather simple, Firstly the woman herself. I can understand her being frustrated and all, cleaning per room, getting pennies for doing so and probably not feeling that great about herself.

However, whatever you say she signed that document, whether she could understand it or not is not the question here, at the end of the day she signed a legal document and that is that. If she had concerns about not understanding the terms and agreements, she should have notified the company at the time instead of signing it.

Her claim that not being able to speak english and that this should be classed as a 'disability' is a disgrace and has personally pissed me off as i actually have a disability. If she had any clue about what having a disibility included she would never ever have claimed that not being able to speak english is/was a disability. Let's see how she enjoys only being able to see half of what a normal person can see, not be able to walk and be in a wheelchair for the rest of her life, have the mental age of a 14 year old because of an accident, only then will she understand what the word 'disability' is all about.

Moving away from the aspect that is close to home, there is also the issue of her not being able to speak english, now it is the fault of both parties in my eyes. Firslty her for coming to the UK not being able to speak the queens english and the company taking advantage of the fact she cannot speak english and employing her in the first place.

What i would like to see happen, is her claim rejected and the company be fully investigated into about the way it recruits staf and the way they are paid. That to me seems an all round fair resolution.


lol, i got back late from a pool tournament tonight so was not able to eat until that late!!!! I know its bad for me, my mother has told me this on many occassions and i haven't even lived with her since i was 16 :)


i agree totally and as i said they should be fully investigated by whoever does that sort of thing.


bang on, a certain michael jackass saying springs to mind 'check yourself before you wreck yourself' :)


i also agree with you to Justysia, there seems to be a common view that both parties involved are at fault.

True - I have nothing to add to the above.

Its good to see you havent let any of these problems stop you from leading a normal life though. You're a testament to the human spirit Sir!

True, another valid point you have raised this week Mr K ;-)

Great! Does this mean that I can now go ahead and sue the Polish Govt. for discriminating against my job opps in Warsaw because I'm a foreigner and therefore a d***f***? I'll settle for 250zl, a case of Tyskie and a 30 day ZTM travel pass as compensation, ta very much!

The Sun. They tend to show bias, occasionally.
The woman was scammed into working for £3 per hour. That should have been the headline. Not the fact she was Polish and spoke poor English.

It's just another anti-immigration story the media constantly uses to fuel hysteria.

when it comes to the polish, all british newspapers are biased.

What is your disability if you don't mind me asking ?

This woman shouldn't have signed a contract that she couldn't understand, however, she shouldn't have come here to work if she couldn't speak enough English to understand an employment contract.

Why does anyone leave their homeland to clean hotel rooms in another ???????

No one looking to hire staff should allow someone to sign their contract knowing that they might not understand it fully. That is really mean and the fact that the employer was Polish and he sold out one of his own makes it even worse.

Her bad English makes her disabled ???????? Even in this crazy country, where plenty of the "bad back brigade" scam the system while replacing roof-tiles, I doubt she will be able to make that stick.

Oh and I've stayed in quite few Travelodges and the cleaners make pretty much zero effort anyway. The rooms are always pretty ropey.

hahaha, well i only have one of the ones i wrote about and i'm not in a wheelchair or have a mental illness (That i know of :) ). Anyway thanks for taking the P*ss, i like a good sense of humour


ok ok ok now thats double P*ss taking, lol.


Well i have eyesight in one eye only, the one that does have sight in is not in full working order, lol. Dam there goes the RAF Tornado i always wanted to fly, pppffff or the F1 career to follow in the footsteps of Hill and Mansell. If you need anymore info just ask, i'm more than happy to discuss it, ow and by the way i lost my vision through an accident.

But didn't you leave Poland in April anyway?

I was told just yesterday that any contract signed that is not in your native language can be void if not provide instructions in english or a sworn translator present.

I have already signed a few contracts in polish, so im not sure if this is now a good thing for me that i can jump out whenever i want or good for them as they can do the same.

Then it's one word against someone else's as to whether or not a translation was provided.

This is true, and thats why the documents I have signed that did have instructions in english I had to sign to say I had recieved them. It's a real grey area that I think could cause big problems

Yes I did leave but can't I sue them retrospectively from the UK and I'll skip the ZTM ticket, pick up the crate of Tyskie from Tescos and get the 250zl from the unpleasant little 'Cheques cashed etc.' shop on the High Street, they do a nice line in Polish posters in the window, offering such things as super loans to Poles and selling/buying zlotys at silly rates!

I believe that you are correct, there was an EU regulation that came into force in either Dec.2005 or 2006 which dealt with "unfair contracts". Not only do you have to receive a copy in your "native language", you must be given 24 hours to read this before you sign. Other clauses in this regulation insist that if it is a "pre-printed" contract, then, anywhere which mentions the length of the contract ie: 24 months, percentage rate or interest rates, must be filled in by hand and initialed by the person signing the contract.

I actually used this clause to void a contract with a mobile telepohone company, here in Poland. The service did not work in my area so I complained and they told me that I had signed a contract for 2 years and there was nothing they or I could do about it. I used the following reasons for breaching the contract:

1) The service provided was not fit for the purpse and I was misled about the quality of the reception I would receive.
2) The contract I signed was invalid as I was not given a copy in English (my native language)
A fax to their HQ in Warsaw was enough for them to refund my money and cancel the contract.

Isnt that how all poles living in britain feel. I mean poles get easily green with jealousy, how do they feel working with (or below) british people ?. Do the poles have jealous feelings towards the entir population of britain or do they look up to us

I imagine they treat us as individuals.....unless they're simpletons who believe in stereotypes.