Dismissal for misconduct is lawful if the out-of-work conduct violates the principles of fairness and good faith

The Court of Cassation judgement No. 13676 of 5 July 2016, confirmed the principle of law already expressed by judgement No. 2550 of 10 February 2015, whereby for the purposes of the lawfulness of dismissal for just cause it is not necessary for the worker to have established expressly-prohibited conduct, but rather, it is sufficient that he/she has “behaved in any other way that, due to its nature and possible consequences, may be inconsistent with the obligations related to their inclusion in the structure and organisation of the enterprise, as Art. 2105 of the Civil Code must be integrated with Art. 1175 and Art. 1375 of the Civil Code, which require compliance with the obligations of fairness and of good faith even in out-of-work conduct, so as to avoid damaging the employer”. In particular, in the case examined by the Supreme Court, the employee had been fired for misconduct, as during a period of sick leave, he had acted in a reckless manner as regards his health. The Court of Cassation had, therefore, correctly applied the general principles, in the actual case in question, relating to the performance of the contract and obligatory conduct of the parties to the relationship.