"Lime" and "sand": state of the interpretative art in matters of dismissal (productive reason) due to illness (personal reason)

On the occasion of the Ruling of the High Court of Justice of Cataluña 4380/2021, of 14 September

Abstract

20 years after its Ruling of 29 January 2001 (appeal 1566/2000), the Spanish Supreme Court continues to assume that dismissing people for being ill does not violate fundamental rights and, therefore, does not merit nullity. However, 10 years after that ruling, the Supreme Court itself created an exception: if such dismissals are a common practice, they do merit the sanction of nullity, because they violate article 15 of the Spanish Constitution. The High Court of Justice of Cataluña has just dusted off this precedent to annul an alleged company policy aimed at dismissing those who are no longer profitable due to recurrent sick leave. This analysis gives an account of its reasons and other recent judicial exceptions that put human dignity above profitability.