Double dismissal is legal

With its judgement no. 24027 dated 24 November 2016, the Court of Cassation reconfirmed the legal principle pursuant to which, if an employer dismisses an employee for a specific reason (in this case because the employee had exceeded the number of sickness absence days), the employer may legally dismiss the employee a second time for another and quite different reason (in the case in question dismissal for cause because of the employee’s fraudulent conduct against the employer), without prejudice to the fact that the second cause is considered to be independent and separate from the first one. According to the Court, both dismissals may theoretically lead to the termination of the employment relationship and the second will in any case be valid even if the first is considered to be invalid and unenforceable. Substantially, a second dismissal is not in breach of the principle pursuant to which the grounds for dismissal may not be modified.