An unusual labour dispute in Spain ended in favour of an employee who was handed a dismissal notice after going to dinner with friends and drinking two glasses of wine while on sick leave. The court ruled that the dismissal was unjustified and awarded her 24,000 euros in damages.
The incident began in 2022, when the waitress took sick leave due to acute pyelonephritis and severe hypoglycaemia. She was on sick leave for a total of 78 days. A few months later, her employer offered a mutual agreement to terminate the contract, stating that the company was incurring additional costs of around 700 euros per month due to her absence.
After the employee rejected the proposal, she received a dismissal notice a month later. The reasons given for the dismissal were fraud, disloyalty, and loss of trust. The employer considered it inappropriate that she had gone to dinner and drunk two glasses of tinta de verano (a drink made with wine and sugar) while on sick leave. The company argued that this behaviour was inconsistent with her health condition and could have delayed her recovery.
The court did not accept this reasoning. It paid particular attention to the fact that the employer had attempted to reach a mutual agreement to terminate the contract just a month before, specifically due to the costs associated with her sick leave. According to the court's assessment, the real reason for the dismissal was not the dinner out or the two glasses of wine, but rather her long-term sick leave.
The dismissal was declared null and void, and the employer was ordered to pay the employee 24,000 euros in compensation.
