Israel Broadcasting Authority director general Yoni Ben-Menachem has filed a suit against the authority to Jerusalem's Regional Labor Court for some NIS 500,000, demanding a budgetary pension, a significant social benefit granted civil servants in the past.
Ben-Menachem says the IBA failed to advise him of his rights, discriminated, deprived and deceived him over the years.
Civil servants received a budgetary pension until 2004. Instead of having a certain sum deducted from their wage every month for their pension, the state paid the pension in its entirety (up to 70 percent of it ) at their retirement.
Ben-Menachem is also demanding, in the suit he filed about a month ago, a clothing allowance for the rest of his life, a holiday present and an exemption from paying the annual IBA license fee.
Ben-Menachem presents himself in the suit as "a professional, devoted IBA employee, who rose in the ranks over the years until he serves today as director general." He says "despite the high esteem for the plaintiff [himself], the [IBA] acted negligently or maliciously and refrained from giving him basic rights..."
He says the IBA acted "disgracefully," systematically depriving him of basic rights over the years.
Ben-Menachem has worked in the IBA for 29 years and since 2001 has been employed under a senior reporter's contract. Despite being appointed director general about a year ago, his contract was not replaced, although he is paid a director general's wage of about NIS 36,000 a month.
Some 40 other IBA workers have filed similar suits to the Labor Court through the same lawyer.
Officials in the Finance Ministry said Ben-Menachem's suit raised a conflict of interests, as he is suing the body in which he serves as director general.
