SERVICES
Employment contract – Ancillary agreements
The employer shares liability with the employee when the damage arises from organizational shortcomings
Supreme Court, Labor Section
A cashier at a bank branch was held responsible for a cash shortfall that occurred during her shift, after a colleague—who later became untraceable—had stolen the money. The Court of Appeal attributed full liability to the employee, considering the omissions in security procedures to be serious.
The Supreme Court, however, upheld the appeal, stating that the judge must ascertain whether actions or omissions by the employer contributed to the occurrence of the damage. Where the risk arises within the organizational structure, the employer cannot claim full compensation if it has itself contributed, through shortcomings in supervision or control, to making the damage possible.
In the specific case, the bank was aware of the prior disciplinary record of the colleague responsible for the theft but had neither informed the cashier nor adopted organizational measures suitable to limit his access to cash. According to the Supreme Court, such omissions may constitute contributory negligence under the general rules governing contractual liability.
The principle set out has broad scope: the employee’s fault does not exclude that of the company when the damage arises in an environment that the employer itself has helped to make risky. Employer liability is therefore also rooted in the ability—or inability—to prevent risks stemming from work organization.