Uppsala Municipality has been forced to spend over two million kronor of taxpayers’ money on a labor law case against a home care worker who was accused of sexual assault on an elderly woman. The municipality proceeded with the case all the way to the Labor Court, using an expensive external law firm—even though they have 13 in-house lawyers. After losing, the result was a multimillion bill for taxpayers.
The man in question was suspended and dismissed after an elderly woman reported that he had sexually assaulted her during a home care visit. The municipality chose to pursue the dismissal legally when the man sued his employer. This is reported by UNT.
However, the district court found that the municipality failed to substantiate the circumstances cited as grounds for the dismissal. When the Labor Court later decided not to take up the municipality’s appeal, the district court’s ruling stood.
The consequence was that the municipality had to pay the man about 800,000 kronor in damages, compensation for lost wages, interest, and a severance payment equivalent to 16 months’ salary. In addition, the municipality was ordered to cover his legal costs of just over 230,000 kronor.
ALSO READ: Home care gang member from Eritrea raped 82-year-old in her home – avoids deportation
At the same time, the municipality paid around 940,000 kronor to an external law firm to pursue the case. The total estimated cost is around 2.1 million kronor, excluding the working hours of the municipality’s own staff and lawyers.
External lawyers despite an in-house legal team
The municipality has its own legal department with 13 lawyers, but still chose to hire an external law firm from Stockholm. Municipal executive board chairman Erik Pelling (S) justified the decision by saying that the municipality sometimes needs specialist expertise.
The man’s lawyer, meanwhile, argued that the dispute could have been resolved much more cheaply through a settlement before the case went to court.
Police investigation closed without interrogation
In parallel with the labor law process, a police report was made regarding sexual assault. However, the criminal investigation was closed already in autumn 2024.
ALSO READ: Ukrainian woman fled the war – slaughtered by home care worker from Iran in Sweden
The decision to close the investigation was made without the suspected man even having been interrogated, according to UNT’s investigation. As a result, no charges were ever filed.
Several noted cases
This case is not the only one that has shaken Uppsala Municipality’s home care services. During the same period, more home care employees were accused of sexual assault on elderly women. In total, three men were dismissed for various allegations of sexual offenses, and two of them have sued the municipality after their dismissals.
In another of the cases, the court reached the opposite conclusion. There, the district court found that the municipality had grounds to dismiss a man who was identified by two different women as the perpetrator of rape and other sexual assaults. In that ruling, the district court upheld that it was beyond reasonable doubt that the assaults had taken place, even though criminal charges were never brought as the preliminary investigation had been previously closed.
ALSO READ: Home care worker suspected of rape was fired – but the police investigation is dropped
Similar high-profile cases in which home care staff have been suspected or convicted of sexual crimes against elderly care recipients have also occurred in several other Swedish municipalities in recent years.