{"id":24228,"date":"2020-02-28T09:52:15","date_gmt":"2020-02-28T08:52:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.delucapartners.it\/news\/disciplinary-procedure-illness-does-not-justify-the-inability-to-attend-the-requested-oral-hearing\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T16:14:39","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T15:14:39","slug":"disciplinary-procedure-illness-does-not-justify-the-inability-to-attend-the-requested-oral-hearing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.delucapartners.it\/en\/insights\/case-law-en\/disciplinary-procedure-illness-does-not-justify-the-inability-to-attend-the-requested-oral-hearing\/","title":{"rendered":"Disciplinary procedure: illness does not justify the inability to attend the requested oral hearing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The\nCourt of Cassation, in its judgment No. 980 of 17 January 2020, clarified that,\nin the context of disciplinary proceedings, the state of illness cannot in\nitself be sufficient to justify the inability to attend the hearing requested\nin order to make oral counter-arguments in relation to the contested facts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Facts\nof the case<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The case in question originates from a dismissal for\njust cause of an employee of Poste Italiane S.p.A. for abuse of his position,\nhaving persuaded some colleagues to activate Postpay prepaid cards in violation\nof certain internal procedures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nthe course of the disciplinary proceedings culminating in the expulsion order,\nthe employee had requested to be heard orally about the serious contested facts\nwithin the legal time frame. However, once summoned to the defence, on two\noccasions, the employee had asked for the postponement of the meeting on the\nbasis of attached certificates of illness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nthe objection and complaint proceedings in the Fornero procedure, both the\nCourt [of First Instance] and the Bologna Court of Appeal confirmed the\nlawfulness of the dismissal. This was due to the fact that the employer had set\na date for the hearing as requested by the employee, which was renewed because\nof his failure to appear at the first of two hearings due to illness. The\ncompany had also warned the employee of his need to complete the disciplinary\nprocedure with the second date with respect to the provision of collective\nbargaining. As if that were not enough, the worker was invited to submit\nfurther written justification which, however, he failed to do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nemployee appealed against the decision on the merits to the Court of Cassation,\ncomplaining, among other things, of the infringement of his rights of defence\nat the disciplinary stage, since the company had not granted the second of the\ntwo deferments of the oral hearing requested by him on the grounds of illness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\ndecision of the Court of Cassation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nCourt of Cassation, in rejecting the worker’s appeal, considered the employer’s\nactions to be in line with the general principles of fairness and good contractual\nfaith. In fact, at first, it had granted the postponement of the first meeting\nand, subsequently, had warned the worker of its unwillingness to grant a third\ndate. But not only that. The Company had invited the worker to return his\ncounterarguments in writing so as not to incur in forfeiture for late\nwithdrawal, based on the provisions of collective bargaining in the sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According\nto the Court of Cassation, although it is true that the worker, in the context\nof disciplinary proceedings, has the right to be heard orally by the employer,\nit is not quite as true that they have the right to defer the meeting on the\nbasis of any state of illness, since this in itself does not imply the absolute\nimpossibility of leaving home temporarily. Rather, in the Court’s view, it is\nnecessary to specifically allege and prove that the restricting nature of the illness\nsuffered is an obstacle to physically leaving the house in order to constitute\nthe ‘not otherwise protectable\u2019 <\/em>defence requirement. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nCourt of Cassation, in fact, specifies that “the mere allegation<\/em><\/strong>,\nby the worker, even if certified, of the condition of illness cannot be\nsufficient in itself to justify the impossibility of attending the personal\nhearing requested<\/strong>, since it<\/strong><\/em> is<\/em><\/strong> necessary for\nhim to deduce its nature as an obstacle<\/strong> to physically leaving the house (or\nthe place of treatment), so that its postponement<\/strong> to a new date of\npersonal hearing constitutes a de facto defence <\/strong>requirement that cannot\notherwise be protected<\/em>“.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Court of Cassation, in its judgment No. 980 of 17 January 2020, clarified that, in the context of disciplinary proceedings, the state of illness cannot in itself be sufficient to justify the inability to attend the hearing requested in order to make oral counter-arguments in relation to the contested facts. Facts of the case […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[167,177,190],"tags":[960,961,962],"class_list":{"0":"post-24228","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-case-law","7":"category-insights","9":"tag-audizione-orale-en","10":"tag-malattia-en","11":"tag-procedimento-disciplinare-en"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDisciplinary procedure: illness does not justify the inability to attend the requested oral hearing - De Luca & Partners<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.delucapartners.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24228\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Disciplinary procedure: illness does not justify the inability to attend the requested oral hearing - De Luca & Partners\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Court of Cassation, in its judgment No. 980 of 17 January 2020, clarified that, in the context of disciplinary proceedings, the state of illness cannot in itself be sufficient to justify the inability to attend the hearing requested in order to make oral counter-arguments in relation to the contested facts. 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