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Individual Dismissal
Dismissal by Ordinary Email: The Means of Transmission Does Not Invalidate the Termination
Court of Cassation, Labour Division
A worker challenged the disciplinary dismissal served on him by the company, arguing that it was invalid because it had been communicated by ordinary email rather than by the means prescribed by the applicable collective agreement. The claim was dismissed at first instance and on appeal, and the matter came before the Supreme Court.
In confirming the decisions of the lower courts, the Court clarified that the collective agreement provisions governing the means of transmitting disciplinary measures do not affect the validity of a dismissal where the termination was in any event set out in writing. The collective agreement provisions regulate the subsequent stage of communicating the act, not its formation.
According to the Court, dismissal is a unilateral act that takes effect upon receipt: the essential requirements are therefore the written form and the worker’s ability to become aware of the act. The use of a different channel of transmission, in the absence of a specific provision attaching invalidating consequences to such a choice, does not render the termination null and void or ineffective.
The ruling confirms a principle of practical significance: irregularities in the means by which a dismissal is communicated are not in themselves sufficient to invalidate the act where the communication has achieved its purpose.