Court of Cassation: an employee refusing to transfer may be considered resigning from employment

By judgment no. 6265, published on 31 March 2016, the Court of Cassation has sanctioned the principle whereby an employee refusing to transfer may be considered as resigning from employment. In the case in question, the worker had contested the legitimacy of the employer’s order to transfer to another production unit, and refused to comply. On such refusal, the employer, in a notice sent to the same employee, acknowledged his intention to resign from employment. Against such dismissing measure, the worker filed suit, deeming the measure illegitimate as it had been given verbally. The court of Cassation partly modified the decision of the trial judge remarking that, where the methods of termination of employment are at issue (oral dismissal or resignation), the trial judge is obliged to make an accurate assessment that takes into proper account all the investigation results. Therefore, the refusal of the worker to be assigned to another place, in the presence of a legitimate transfer, appears indicative of his will to no longer work, a circumstance that excludes any instance of verbal dismissal.