DetailsMs. Yuan, a former manager of sales department of Mead Johnson Nutrition (China) Co., Ltd. (hereafter Mead Johnson), sued Mead Johnson in requesting it to resume her position and to continue paying her salary. On March 7, 2018, the case was heard in Chaoyang District People’s Court of Beijing City. The defendant, Mead Johnson, believed that Ms. Yuan had gone to the United States to give birth to her baby with her leave application unapproved.
Ms. Yuan said she entered Mead Johnson in March 2015 and was agreed to have an average monthly salary of 20,000 yuan. In August of the following year, she went to the United States to give birth to her baby, but Mead Johnson unilaterally terminated the labor contract with her on September 21, 2016. Ms. Yuan applied for labor arbitration. As she did not accept the award, she filed a lawsuit against Mead Johnson and claimed that she should be paid more than 210,000 yuan in wages and her position should be resumed.
The female employees in Mead Johnson have maternity leave for three months. However, maternity leave is only 15 days before giving birth. According to the relevant regulations of Mead Johnson, if giving birth takes more than 15 days, the pregnant woman should apply for sick leave, and sick leave is required to provide medical record of the hospital. The medical record provided by Ms. Yuan was issued by the hospital in the United States, and Mead Johnson did not accept it. During the trial, the defendant also argued that it was unnecessary for Ms, Yuan to go to the United States to give birth, which increased the risk of abortion and the costs of management, so Mead Johnson rejected Ms. Yuan’s leave application. Ms. Yuan left China with her leave application unapproved, which violated Mead Johnson’s relevant regulations.
The effect of the evidence was the focus of the trial. The evidence provided by Ms. Yuan was formed outside the territory of the People's Republic of China. According to the law, the evidence should be subject to the certification of the notary public office of the United States and should be authenticated by the embassy or consulates of the People’s Republic of China stationed in the United States, or should be subject to the certification formalities as provided in the relevant treaties concluded between the People’s Republic of China and the United States. In addition, Ms. Yuan should provide the court with Chinese translations if she provided materials in English.
In general, all countries have made special provisions for the evidence collected from abroad. In foreign-related cases, the evidence collection is also a complicated process. When you have difficulties in evidence gathering in foreign-related cases, you can ask a lawyer for help.