The court may recognise different solutions for identical cases
To exclude the proportionality of dismissal, it is not enough to argue that similar conduct committed by other employees has been sanctioned with conservative measures. The court may recognise different solutions for identical cases.
This principle was upheld by the Court of Cassation in Order no. 22115/2022 of 13 July 2022, which confirmed the legitimacy of an employee’s dismissal for having caused an accident while driving his service vehicle. The accident was caused by the incorrect positioning of the front-mounted crane, which damaged a bridge located on a provincial road.
In this case, the employer company considered the accident a serious breach of contract. In addition, the employee failed to fill in a compulsory parking disk and tachograph, which attests to the vehicle speed. The company terminated his employment without notice.
The Bologna Court of Appeal confirmed the dismissal was legitimate and commensurate based on the conduct’s seriousness and severe damage of the bond of trust.
The worker appealed to the Court of Cassation against this decision, claiming that the local court, when confirming the dismissal’s legitimacy, considered it irrelevant to compare the case to the treatment given by the company to other employees who committed similar conduct. The worker referred to previous case law where such” situations can remove the dismissal of its justificatory basis” (Court of Cassation ruling no. 14252/2015).
Continue reading the full version published in Norme & Tributi Plus Diritto of Il Sole 24 Ore.
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