"We have opened the probe. Yesterday, we received information from the (parliamentary) Human Rights Committee but we had studied the article earlier that morning, and in such cases we always initiate inquiries," the ombudsperson's adviser Danguolė Grigolovičienė told BNS on Thursday.
Burneikienė has told BNS that command of the Polish language could be validated as an additional requirement, if the employee had to work at the client service division. Burneikienė said a similar case at Vilnius district municipality had already been examined in 2008.
On Wednesday, Arminas Lydeka, chairman of the Lithuanian parliamentary Human Rights Committee, approached the Office of Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson with a request to look into validity of the requirement for new financial officers of Vilnius district municipality to speak Polish.
Lydeka, a member of the ruling Liberal Movement, said the requirements could “run counter the principle of equality."
He also urged the Public Service Department to examine whether the municipality's leadership did not abuse its powers and guaranteed equal employment opportunities for all applicants.
Vilnius district has about 100,000 residents, including about 61 percent of Polish nationality.
