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Cyprus’s Commissioner for Administration (Ombudswoman) has asked the Limassol Local Government Organization to explain why a disabled employee was denied promotion while colleagues hired at the same time advanced. In a letter sent in mid-November, Commissioner Maria Stylianou-Lottides requested justification for the decision, citing the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and employers’ obligations to prevent discrimination and provide reasonable accommodation.
The case involves a father of three who joined the Limassol Water Supply Board in 2011 as an hourly-paid worker. After spinal surgery in 2012 left him with severe mobility impairments, he was reassigned to office duties. Despite continuing to work and traveling independently to his job, he was excluded from a 2024 promotion round that elevated two peers to technician posts. The Board determined he was ineligible due to his disability.
The trade union SIDIKEK-PEO and the Cyprus Confederation of Organizations of the Disabled challenged the decision, calling it discriminatory and urging a review. The newly formed Limassol Local Government Organization, which replaced the Water Supply Board, said it could not overturn the earlier ruling. The complainant’s lawyer disputes this, noting that the official who participated in the original decision now oversees promotions within the new body.
The complainant argues that the refusal to promote him violates international and domestic disability-rights law. The Commissioner has given local authorities four weeks to respond.
