Dismissal for just cause of an employee consuming corporate goods is lawful independently of the marginal damage suffered by the employer.

The Court of Bologna with judgement no. 149 dated 10 February 2017, declared lawful the dismissal for just cause ordered for an employee who consumed company goods (food and beverages) at the workplace. During the summary case hearing, the Judge of the court where the employee filed the appeal under article 1, paragraph 48, of Law 92/2012, deemed the dismissal unlawful and ordered the employer to pay an indemnity equal to 12 months of salary based on the last remuneration. The Judge of the opposing party, amending the order of the first Judge, with judgement under review, declared the dismissal lawful despite the marginal magnitude of the corporate damage caused, pointing out among other things the following: (i) witnesses reported that the employee was not new to conducts similar to those that led to the dismissal; (ii) the employee denied the alleged facts rather than admitting them; (iii) the position held by the employee (assistant in a department). However, from this judgement it emerges that in assessing the proportionality between the alleged fact and the measures taken, an important consideration is the effect on the employment relationship from a conduct capable of casting doubts on the honesty of any future fulfilment [of the employment role]. This is an indication of a certain behaviour of the worker with regards to the obligations undertaken regardless of the lack of damage or the marginal damage that the conduct may cause.