Resigning Agent and lack of just cause

The Court of Appeals of Turin, with judgement dated 22 December 2017 reviewed a case of resignation for just cause presented by an agent of a company in the consumer credit sector. In particular, the resigning agent had appealed to the court to obtain the payment of the indemnity pursuant to art. 1751 of the Civil Code (and, alternatively, in any case the payment of compensation in lieu of notice), complaining about both the worsening of the contractual conditions applicable to the customers in his circles and the unlawfulness of the employer’s choice to reserve better contractual conditions to its branches operating in the area assigned to him. In confirming the opinion expressed by the court of first instance, the Court of Appeals stated that, on the one hand, the worsening of the contractual conditions had been expressly accepted by the agent and that, however, by virtue of a contractual clause, the employer could have also proceeded unilaterally. Furthermore, the Court of Appeals noted that the choice of the employer to favour, by reserving better conditions, its branch offices could not in any way be considered unlawful since the agent was not contractually tied by an exclusivity restriction. In light of these considerations, the judges of the Court of Appeals rejected the appeal of the resigning agent.