Wall Street Journal publisher found guilty of violating Hong Kong labour laws

The publisher of the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has been found guilty of violating Hong Kong’s labour laws by illegally preventing a former reporter from running for the chairmanship of a local press union.

However, Eastern Court on Thursday cleared Dow Jones Publishing Co (Asia) of unlawful termination of Selina Cheng Kar-yue’s contract, finding her dismissal could have been the result of a broader restructuring exercise as the American newspaper shifted its Asian headquarters from Hong Kong to Singapore.

The court ruled that Dow Jones had illegally deterred Cheng from exercising her right by requiring her to seek prior approval for her involvement in the Hong Kong Journalists Association’s leadership race in June 2024.

The defendant, a subsidiary of the company that hires WSJ employees in the region, faced a fine of up to HK$100,000 (US$12,750) under the Employment Ordinance. The court is expected to pass sentence early next year.

In his verdict, Principal Magistrate David Cheung Chi-wai found that Dow Jones’ prior-approval requirement for employees was a “wrongful and unjustified” application of its code of conduct.

He said the arrangement had placed the newspaper’s management above the law and left workers at the mercy of the wishes and arbitrary exercise of power by its senior executives.