Two persons have filed a motion at the High Court in Accra for an order of committal for contempt against Mrs Ruth Smith Adjei, the acting General Manager of Blue Skies Products Ghana Limited, a fruit processing company at Nsawam. The applicants, Mr Richard Brakatu, a former employee of the company, and Mr Felix Djan, who is still in the employment of the company, are praying the court to order the respondent to purge her contempt or be imprisoned for contempt of court. An affidavit in support of the motion said Mr Brakatu and two others issued a writ on December 12, 2008 to seek some reliefs against Blue Skies Products Ghana Limited, of which the respondent is the acting General Manager, and three others. It said the company entered an appearance and-filed its defence in which it denied all allegations. The affidavit said while the suit was pending; and through the guise of redundancy, the respondent, with a letter dated February 6, 2009, laid off Mr Brakatu. It said on January 30, 2009, the respondent again wrote a letter to Mr Djan, warning him in a bid to intimidate or coerce the applicants to discontinue the suit. According to the affidavit, the action of the respondent amounted to interference in the pending suit and calculated to prevent the applicants from going on with the suit. It stated that the action of the respondent "is an affront to the administration of justice and bring same into disrepute and as such contempt of this court". Hearing of the case has been fixed for Monday, April 27, 2009. In the substantive suit, the two applicants and Simon Akakpo, another employee of the company, are seeking an order of perpetual injunction to restrain the company and the Blue Skies Staff Association from interfering with their right to join any union of their choice. Joined in the suit are the Labour Department and the Chief Labour Officer. The plaintiffs are also seeking a declaration that they are at liberty, under the law, to join a trade union of their choice. They are further praying the court to order the Labour Department and the Chief Labour Officer to exhaust due process to determine the appropriate trade union to represent the plaintiffs. In addition, the plaintiffs are seeking an order directed at the company and the staff association from coercing them to join the association, as well as an order for the company to cease deducting dues from the salaries of the plaintiffs for the association. Source: Daily Graphic