The reform ofArticle 18 begins to bear fruit. According to what Il Sole 24 Ore published on Sunday 6 January, it was for the first time applied by the Court of Milan the new legislation on illegitimate dismissals.
In this case, the employee had contested the dismissal requesting re-employment in the company. The company had previously terminated the employment relationship after losing the contract where the employee was employed.
The latter appealed to the court and the judge recognized the illegitimacy of the dismissal, since the employer he had not demonstrated the impossibility of rehiring the employee in the company, assigning them another assignment.
At this point, the judge decided only for the payment of a indemnification equal to twenty months (after the Fornero reform, the law provides for a gap between a minimum of 12 and a maximum of 24 months as a form of compensation), and the worker was not rehired in the company.
According to the old wording of Article 18, the employee would have been reinstated and the employer would have to “find” him another assignment.
However, the company's behavior had not been particularly deserving: the employee had in fact refused to sign one resignation letter "blank", and argued that the dismissal was a direct consequence (and therefore discriminatory retaliation) of his refusal.
The judge he acknowledged the offense but this was not the only "reason" for the dismissal, therefore, as the reason for the loss of the contract subsisting, decided for the payment of the indemnity but confirmed the enforceability of the termination of the relationship.
