Lawful dismissal for justified objective reasons not based on an economic crisis

The Court of Cassation, with judgement No. 9127 dated 12 April 2018 reviewed the case of dismissal for justified objective reasons not supported by a negative economic trend. In this case, the judges reviewing the case had deemed the employer’s dismissal unlawful because “the unfavourable situations were not such as to have a decisive influence on the normal productive activity of the sector“. The judges, on the other hand, pointed out that – although it was not possible to acknowledge the presence of a negative economic trend within the company and sector of the employer – it was unquestionable that the latter had indeed led to a corporate reorganisation, aimed at improving production efficiency and organisation, and therefore the suppression of the position of the dismissed employee. In light of this fact, the Supreme Court decided to transfer the case for judgement to the Court of Appeals having jurisdiction. Basically, in a dismissal for justified objective reasons a negative economic trend of the company does not represent a factual condition that the employer must prove, being sufficient the existence of reasons tied to productivity and business organisation such as to determine the effective removal of a specific job position. Moreover, from the reasoning of the Court it emerges that these reasons may include reasons aimed at a better managerial or productive efficiency or an increase in the profitability of the company. This is because, pursuant to art. 41 of the Constitution, the choice of the employer cannot be judged in terms of adequacy and appropriateness.