The New Cairo Court of First Instance ordered the American University in Cairo to pay nearly 2 million pounds ($40,914.72) to an employee it dismissed after nearly 18 years of work, in a ruling issued on Sunday, October 25, 2026, in labor case No. 3419 of 2026, which was announced on Thursday, October 29, 2026, by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, whose lawyers handled the case.
The ruling awarded compensation of 1,325,751 pounds ($27,448.26) for material and moral damages, 112,138 pounds ($2,321.70) in lieu of notice, and 538,292 pounds ($11,144.76) for accrued leave, with statutory interest of 4% per year. The ruling also ordered the university to give the employee a certificate of his period of service, return his documents, and bear the court costs and legal fees.
The employee, whom the Initiative did not name, joined the university’s security department under an employment contract in 2009, then moved to an administrative position, and was elected president of the independent union of the university’s workers, a post he held for several years. The employee said, according to the Initiative’s statement, that the crisis began after a disagreement with a manager over security practices in the department, which he raised through official channels, and that the university responded by instigating security staff to file complaints against him, removing him from his office, restricting his authority, disabling his email, and barring him from campus, then verbally informed him that he was relieved of his duties with immediate effect and confiscated his university ID card and keys.
The ruling was issued by a court of first instance, and the Initiative’s statement did not include any response from the American University in Cairo to the case or the ruling.
Photo: Ashashyou via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
