no. 07-00-449/2023-02 date: 29.11.2023.

OPINION

The opinion was issued in the proceedings regarding the complaint of AA against the Academy of Vocational Studies and the President BB due to discrimination based on membership in political organizations. The complaint stated, among other things, that since 2018, AA has been employed at the Academy of Vocational Studies and that in the period from 2016 to 2020, he was Deputy Mayor of the city of VV. It was also stated that the complainant believes that the reason for his discrimination is his continuation of engagement in politics as an opposition activist and that for the last three years, the President of the Academy has contested the extension of his norm to 100%. It was further stated that the Academy does not allow the announcement of the competition, which it is obliged to announce, bearing in mind the decision of the Teaching-Professional Council of the Department, and that the aforementioned is the result of “political mobbing” against the complainant, with the aim of not renewing the complainant’s employment contract expiring on September 30, 2023. In the statement of the President of the Academy of Vocational Studies, it was specified, among other things, that the complainant, based on the decision on the selection for the position of lecturer in the narrow scientific field of Tourism, established an employment relationship for a fixed period of five years, with 50% of the working time at the Agricultural College of Vocational Studies, the legal predecessor of the Academy based on an employment contract with a term of validity of the contract until September 30, 2023. It was further stated that the employment contract with the complainant was signed by the director of the previous employer at the time, from which it follows that the director of the Academy, BB, had no role in the selection for the title and establishment of the employment relationship because at that time she was the director of the College of Vocational Studies for Educators. It was also stated that a request was submitted for re-accreditation of the study program of basic professional studies in Tourism and that the National Body for Accreditation and Quality Assurance in Higher Education asked the Academy to supplement the necessary documentation because it was established that eight teachers did not have a minimum of five references from narrower scientific fields in which they teach in the study program, among which is the complainant. It was further indicated that the final comment of the review commission was that the scientific and professional qualifications of several members of the teaching staff do not correspond to the educational-scientific field and the level of their responsibilities, which is why the result of the accreditation was the rejection of the request for accreditation of the study program of basic vocational studies in Tourism, and this study program was canceled by force of law and it does not exist in the work permit issued to the Academy of Vocational Studies by the Ministry of Education. Bearing in mind that the complainant stated membership in political organizations as a personal attribute, in this particular case, the subject of the Commissioner’s consideration is to determine whether the fact that AA’s contract for the appointment of a lecturer in the narrow scientific field of Tourism was not extended by the Academy, as well as that he was not granted an increase in the norm from 50% to 100% of work engagement, is in a cause-and-effect relationship with his attribute stated in the complaint. In the proceedings, it was determined that before the termination of the complainant’s employment contract, the Academy submitted a request for re-accreditation of the “Tourism” study program to extend it. It was further established that in the accreditation process, the National Body for Accreditation and Quality Assurance in Higher Education passed a decision rejecting the Academy’s request for accreditation of the Basic Vocational Studies (OSS) study program “Tourism” because the standard 9 for the accreditation of study programs, which refers to the teaching staff was not fulfilled, since the scientific and professional qualifications of several members of the teaching staff do not correspond to the educational – scientific field and the level of their responsibilities. In the proceedings, it was further determined that on July 31, 2023, the Ministry of Education issued a decision on amending the work permit, by canceling the implementation of the study program: OSS – Tourism (Department for Agricultural and Business Studies and Tourism). Bearing in mind the factual situation established in this way, i.e. the fact that the entire study program has been closed and that no other teachers are teaching the subjects that made up this program anymore, it can be stated that the Academy’s actions in this particular case are not in a cause-and-effect relationship with a personal characteristic of the complainant – membership in a political organization. In relation to the rejection of the complainant’s request for an increase of the norm from 50% to 100%, it was determined in the proceedings that the Academy’s Scientific-Professional Council decided not to accept the proposal of the Decision of the Teaching-Professional Council of the Department for Agricultural-Business Studies and Tourism. In this regard, the Commissioner notes that this decision was not made by the President of the Academy, but rather by the majority of votes of the Scientific-Professional Council of the Academy, and that by analyzing the explanation and reasons for such a decision, it cannot be concluded that the refusal to extend the norm from 50% to 100% was in a cause-and-effect relationship with the complainant’s personal characteristic, but rather with the fact that the request was submitted during the semester break before the end of the complainant’s employment contract and after the fact that the study program in which he was engaged lost its accreditation. Thus, the Commissioner issued the opinion that the Academy of Vocational Studies and the President BB did not violate the provisions of the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination and discriminated against the complainant based on his personal characteristic – membership in a political organization.

COMMISSIONER FOR THE PROTECTION OF EQUALITY
Brankica Janković