A decision of Superior Court of Justice of Cantabria can establish a case law in the case of workers who are or have been dismissed after informing the company that they were going to become parents. The courts ruled in favor and declared null and void for “reflex discrimination or association” the dismissal of a man who had been dismissed from the company after announcing his impending fatherhood. In a ruling (see here), it also forced the company in question to pay compensation to the worker. So if you are in this situation, it is important to contact a lawyer.
The events date back to 12 January 2023 when the person concerned, who had been working since 7 September 2022 as driver-mechanicinformed the company that his partner was pregnant. A few days later, on 27 January, the company gave him a letter of dismissal justifying his dismissal due to “the continuous and voluntary decline in his performance at work” that she had observed for “several months”. Immediately afterwards, the company declared the dismissal inadmissible and paid him a sum of 763 euros This was compensation for the months he spent in the company in question.
Faced with this situation, the person concerned went to court and, after his request was not admitted in the first instance, the High Court of Justice of Cantabria ruled in his favor since, as stated in judgment 501/2024, the employer’s decision represents “deliberate discrimination” since the unilateral termination of the contract by the company would have been carried out “to avoid all the legal consequences that this would entail: paternity leave, sick leave, family conciliation, etc.”
For this reason, this decision of the High Court of Justice of Cantabria obliges the company to reinstate the worker in the same conditions that he had previously in his job and to pay him the transformation wages. They will also have to compensate the worker in the amount of 7,501 euros for violation of his fundamental right to equality and non-discrimination.
What a Lawyer Says If You Get Fired
This ruling, which will set a precedent in future cases, clearly expresses its position contrary to the company’s decision “declaring the dismissal null and void, ordering the company to reinstate the actor in his job under the same conditions that prevailed before the dismissal, with payment of salary, declaring the violation of fundamental rights, in particular equality and non-discrimination recognized in Article 14 of the Constitution and ordering the defendant to pay work compensation in the amount of 7,501 euros.
In relation to this case and as stated in the judgment, it must be taken into account that when the worker began his employment relationship with the company at the end of 2022, he informed the company that he wanted to have children but was having difficulty in obtaining them. In December, and as the parties have demonstrated, the actor informed the company that he had gone to an assisted reproduction clinic to speed up the paternity process.
Only a month later, in January 2023, the events took place in which the worker informed the company of her pregnancy and subsequently received the dismissal letter, which gave rise to a lawsuit against the company that was initially dismissed by the Social Court number 6 of Santander. . In the first instance, the annulment of the dismissal was excluded because it was considered that if the company had wanted to do without the worker to save the costs of a work stoppage, it would have done so at the time he informed the employer of his future paternity.
The court also rejected the claim that the dismissal was due to the company’s desire not to benefit from paternity leave and considered that the termination of the employment contract occurred six months before the birth of the actor’s daughter.
After having resorted to Superior Court of Justice of CantabriaThe highest court of the autonomous community declared the dismissal null and void and ruled in favor of the worker, considering that there was “deliberate discrimination or discrimination by association.” In addition, it ordered the company to reinstate the worker in his job under the same conditions as before, to reimburse his wages and to pay him compensation, a judgment that will set a precedent in the relationship between paternity and work.
