On September 15, 2017, the Samara District Court completed its review of the case of Svetlana Medvedeva v. the Samara River Passenger Enterprise. The court found that the internationally-recognized ban on discrimination against women means that women cannot be denied employment in “dangerous” specializations, even though a ban of this nature has been enshrined in Russian law.
This case was reviewed five years after the Samara District Court’s 2012 decision rejecting Svetlana’s claim based on the fact that a list of 456 “banned” professions for woman (including the position of motorist/helmsperson) had been established by government resolution. The cause for the reconsideration of the case was a 2016 decision regarding Svetlana Medvedeva’s complaint that was adopted by the UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. (This was the Committee’s first decision related to Russia.) In July 2017, the RF Supreme Court noted that this decision was a ground for reviewing the case in light of new circumstances and sent the case to the district court for reconsideration.