Lawyer Dániel Karsai told Inforádió on Tuesday that about 50 similar cases are waiting to be heard by the European court.

A 59-year-old woman, identified only by her initials N.K.M., had worked at the Ministry for 30 years until she was laid off in 2011 and a 98% tax was imposed on Ft 2.4 million, the part of her severance pay that exceeded the government-imposed Ft 3.5 million limit.

The tax was ostensibly introduced to prevent outgoing officials of the former government from awarding massive golden handshakes, but people entitled to large redundancy payments for long service have also been affected.

The court awarded €11,000 in compensation and a further €6,000 in legal costs.

Government spokesman András Giró-Szász told reporters in Budapest yesterday that the verdict is being examined to determine whether the cabinet will appeal.

Source: Hungary Around the Clock

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