LABOUR | Italian Supreme Court on Dismissal following so-called Defensive Controls

On 21 November 2024, the Supreme Court issued its Order No. 30079/2024 on the so called ‘defensive controls’. In particular, an employee had challenged the dismissal ordered against him on the basis of multiple charges – which had been ascertained following an investigation carried out also by means of technological controls – consisting inter alia in having engaged in different activities during working hours, and in the usual and constant use of the company car for personal purposes. The Court of Appeal had rejected the employee’s claim, finding, on the one hand, that the controls carried out by the employer were legitimate and, on the other hand, that just cause for termination existed in view of the severity of the conducts realized by the interested employee. The Supreme Court – in confirming the judgment of second instance – pointed out that defensive controls are allowed, if aimed at ascertaining specifically unlawful conducts attributable, on the basis of concrete evidence, to specific employees. However, even in the presence of a suspicion of unlawful activity, it is necessary to observe the rules laid down to protect the privacy of the worker and, in particular, Section 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights as interpreted by the case law, which requires a proper balance to be ensured between the need to protect the interests of the company and the indispensable protection of the dignity and privacy of the worker.

Newsletter n. 102 – December 2024