Straining and damages compensation (Newsletter Norme & Tributi no. 173 Camera di Commercio Italo-Germanica – Vittorio De Luca, Luca Cairoli)

By Order no. 29101 of 19 October 2023, the Italian Supreme Court ruled on the compensation claim for damages in a “straining” case. The employee took legal action because his superior had applied towards him a “stressful” method of control, generating a heated discussion during which the employee had suffered a ischemic attack. The Court of Appeal, despite having established that the conduct had taken place, had denied its illegality, rejecting the compensation claim for damages made by the employee, based upon the fact that it was not a case of mobbing (or bullying), as it was an isolated episode and was not done systematically with a clear vexatious aim protracted over time. The Supreme Court stated that, aside from the classification as mobbing or straining, what is important is that the act committed, even in isolation, is an unlawful act pursuant to Article 2087 of the Italian Civil Code, leading to violation of the interests of the employee which are protected at the highest level of the legal system. The Supreme Court also clarified that straining represents an attenuated form of mobbing (or bullying), not having the continuous nature of the vexatious acts, but still attributable to Article 2087 of the Italian Civil Code, and that, once ascertained, it involves acceptance of the damages compensation claim.