Whaling Company Cleared in Three of Five Wage Lawsuits

Hvalur hf. has been acquitted in three out of five lawsuits filed by former employees seeking unpaid wages. The workers had accepted job offers to participate in whaling operations scheduled to begin on either January 21 or January 22, 2023. They never received payment after the then Minister of Food and Agriculture imposed a temporary ban on whaling just one day before operations were set to start. The ban lasted until September 1 and followed a welfare report from the Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority that found whale killings took too long, sparking public debate. All five cases were heard by the District Court of West Iceland on January 27 and 28, 2025. In two of the cases, the court ruled the employment contracts were valid but could not be fully executed due to the government-imposed halt on whaling activities. One employee was awarded approximately 2.1 million ISK plus legal costs, and a second received a similar amount in the other non-acquitted case. The remaining three plaintiffs did not receive compensation, as the court determined they weren’t entitled to wages under the circumstances. Hvalur hf., a long-standing player in Iceland’s controversial whaling industry, continues to operate amid ongoing environmental scrutiny.