Unlawful dismissal for reduction of costs if the employer does not demonstrate the effectiveness of the downsizing

The Court of Cassation with judgement No. 5323 dated 2 March 2017, expressed once again its opinion on the lawfulness of dismissal for objective just cause in order to define its contents and limitations. In the specific case, an administration clerk challenged his dismissal, ordered for a needed corporate cost reduction. The Company, even if it had proven in court of having lost several calls for tender and to be in a position of weakness respect to its competitors, failed to discharge the burden of proof concerning the effectiveness of the functional downsizing of the corporate organizational setup with related removal of the position held by the worker. The Court of Cassation, with the judgement in hand, in rejecting the appeal submitted by the Company, confirmed the correctness of both trial judgements that had verified the failure to prove the justified objective reason [for the dismissal], failure of proof that was sufficient to determine the unlawfulness of the termination.