COURT OF CASSATION: THE FACT SUBJECT TO DISCIPLINARY ACTION IS AUTONOMOUS FROM THE CRIMINAL JUDGMENT
The Court of Cassation, Labor Section, with judgment No. 4684 of 2 March 2026 stated that the fact subject to disciplinary action must be assessed by the Labor Court independently of the criminal judgment.
According to the Court's reasoning, if the disciplinary action concerns not the commission of a crime but rather factual conduct of an omissive nature (such as a code of silence and covering up for colleagues) and this is considered likely to damage the bond of trust, it may legitimately justify dismissal, regardless of the classification of the same act in criminal proceedings and/or of the outcome of the criminal trial.
In light of this, in the case at stake, the Supreme Court deemed as legitimate the dismissal of a manager who had failed to report certain offences committed by some colleagues to his employer and who had therefore been accused first of complicity in the offence and then of aiding and abetting, even though he was subsequently acquitted in criminal proceedings.
