A resignation submitted by a worker under threat of dismissal will be annulled (Newsletter Norme & Tributi n. 178 Camera di Commercio Italo-Germanica – Vittorio De Luca, Irene Crisci)

With judgment no. 7190 of 18 March 2024, the Italian Court of Cassation addressed the issue of the validity of a resignation submitted by an employee under threat of dismissal by the employer.

The employee initiated legal proceedings to have his resignation declared null and, in the alternative, void and to obtain a finding that the employment relationship had continued without interruption, with the right to the salaries accrued in the meantime. This was on the grounds that he had been forced to submit a letter of resignation completed under the duress from two company managers, who threatened him with prejudicial consequences. The Italian Court of Cassation ruled that if an employer was not entitled to dismiss an employee due to the non-existence of the alleged breach, the resignation tendered by the employee under threat of dismissal can be annulled on the grounds of moral unfairness. In this case, the worker’s resignation is based on intimidating and objectively unfair conduct, which constitutes psychological coercion and revokes consent.