A foreign national and single father to a Taiwanese son is facing deportation for allegedly working illegally for the government-linked Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (TFD) in a case that raises questions over how the government handled the case.
The problems for Ben Hlavaty, a US citizen, began when he and his Taiwanese spouse divorced in May 2008. Until then, Hlavaty had an Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) through his marriage and did not need a work permit to work at the TFD, his employer since December 2007.
Aware that following his divorce his ARC would only be valid until Oct. 25 that year, Hlavaty informed his employer that if they wished him to continue working for them, TFD would have to help him apply for a work permit. The foundation subsequently contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), which founded the TFD in 2002, and asked it to assist Hlavaty.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
On Oct. 20 the same year, MOFA sent a notice to the National Immigration Agency (NIA) informing it that the foundation was extending Hlavaty’s employment for one year, until Oct. 24, 2009, and that a work permit should be issued. Six days later, Hlavaty left Taiwan for Hong Kong to reapply for an ARC and a new certificate was issued.
In October the following year, MOFA once again submitted the paperwork to the NIA so that Hlavaty could work for another year, or until Oct. 24, 2010, which again was approved.
However, on Oct. 21, 2010, the TFD informed Hlavaty it wished to terminate his employment and sent a notice to MOFA requesting the extension of his ARC until Dec. 31.
Hlavaty says that Huang Teh-fu (黃德福), appointed new president of the foundation by the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), fired him without cause and denied him his three-month severance pay. Hlavaty filed a petition with the Taipei City Department of Labor for wrongful dismissal.
Hlavaty and the TFD reached a settlement following mediation. Hlavaty left Taiwan on Dec. 19, 2010, and re-entered on a multiple-entry visa in January last year.
However, in May, the city’s Department of Labor sent him a notice stating he was suspected of violating Article 43 of the Employment Services Act (就業服務法) during his employment at the TFD.
“[They] demanded an explanation as to why I had been illegally working during my three-year employment with the Foundation,” Hlavaty said in a press release yesterday.
Then, in July last year, he was fined NT$30,000 for not having a permit through the proper channels.”
“On the advice of civil servants, I submitted an appeal, believing that the mistake would clear up,” he wrote.
“Then the CLA [Council of Labor Affairs] slapped me with a three-year work ban and ordered me to leave Taiwan within fourteen days,” he wrote.
After a petition with the council’s appeals committee failed, Hlavaty turned to the Executive Yuan, which turned him down on the grounds that his appeal to the council was written incorrectly. It ordered the deportation procedures to continue.
After weeks in limbo, Hlavaty’s appeal with the Taipei High Administrative Court was turned down on Thursday last week.
An official with the court told the Taipei Times yesterday that Hlavaty would soon receive the ruling document, adding that he could appeal to the Supreme Administrative Court.
Hlavaty maintains he did nothing wrong.
“[My defense] produced copies of my labor insurance from my foundation days, which must have meant that the Bureau of Labor Insurance, who [sic] is subordinate to the CLA, had found me legal during those three years,” he wrote.
“If I am going to be separated from my boy for my work in promoting Taiwan’s democracy and human rights at the request of MOFA, then I will go down fighting as an example to Isaac,” he wrote.
Hlavaty has dual custody of his son with his former wife.
Additional reporting by Rich Chang, with translation by Jake Chung, Staff Writer
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS