WORKPLACE ACCIDENTS: EMPLOYEE NEGLIGENCE DOES NOT EXCLUDE EMPLOYER LIABILITY
With Order No. 27322 of 20 October 2026, the Italian Supreme Court ruled on the employer’s liability in the event of a workplace accident, focusing on the relevance of the employee’s conduct may have in causing the accident.
The case arose from a claim brought by INAIL against an employer following an accident involving an employee whilst operating a machine.
At first instance, the employer argued that the employee had contributed to causing the accident. The Court of Appeal, however, ruled out any contributory negligence on the employee’s part, finding that the accident had been caused by obsolete machinery and the failure to isolate its moving parts.
In confirming this assessment, the Court of Cassation reiterated that reiterated that mere negligence or imprudence on the part of the employee, even where this results in a breach of health and safety regulations or the instructions received is not in itself sufficient to exclude the employer’s liability.
However, the employee’s conduct may contribute to causing the accident where it is abnormal, unpredictable and goes beyond the scope of the work process and the instructions received. The employee may instead bear sole responsibility in cases of so-called elective risk, namely where, as a result of an arbitrary choice driven by personal reasons, the employee voluntarily creates and exposes themselves to a risk unrelated to the ordinary performance of their work.
