The Superior Court of Justice of Andalusia declared the dismissal of an employee at El Corte Inglés to be unfounded, accused of altering labels on charcuterie products so that a customer would pay less. The company will now have to pay him compensation of more than 36 thousand euros.
According to the Spanish portal Noticias Trabajo, the case originated in 2018, when the management of the Spanish supermarket detected a difference of 44 euros between the real amount and the total charged to a customer. Among the products were several “gourmet” items, including a 50-euro Iberian ham.
The employee in question had worked in the delicatessen section since 1996, with an open-ended contract and a monthly salary of around 1,492 euros. For more than two decades, he had never received any disciplinary sanction.
Suspected manipulation of labels
In the dismissal letter, El Corte Inglés accused the worker of having changed the weight and price of some products, which would have allowed the customer to save the aforementioned 44 euros. For the company, this was a serious breach of contractual good faith.
The weighing tickets, according to the administration, did not match the actual contents of the packages. The defense, however, claimed that any employee could operate with the same internal code, which made it impossible to safely identify the person responsible for the alleged manipulation.
The accusation was based solely on the name appearing on the weigh-in slips, but the court considered that this was not enough to justify a disciplinary dismissal.
First decision in favor of the worker
Labor Court No. 3 of Córdoba analyzed the case and ended up finding the employee in favor. The judge concluded that there was not enough evidence to confirm that she was responsible for the price change.
In the sentence, it was highlighted that, at the time of the events, two people were working in the same section, with shared access to the equipment. Faced with this uncertainty, the principle of presumption of innocence prevailed.
The decision determined that the dismissal was unfounded and ordered the reinstatement of the employee or the payment of compensation appropriate to her seniority.
Court confirms decision and increases costs
El Corte Inglés appealed, but the Superior Court of Justice of Andalusia upheld the decision. The judges concluded that the mere appearance of the worker’s name in computer records did not constitute unequivocal proof of guilt.
In the new sentence, the company was also ordered to pay procedural costs, in the amount of 600 euros plus VAT. Furthermore, the compensation set exceeds 36,000 euros, corresponding to the length of service and the salary earned.
The company can choose between paying compensation or reinstating the employee, compensating her for wages lost since dismissal.
Proof failures and trust principle
According to , the case reignited the debate about the responsibility of companies to collect solid evidence before applying disciplinary measures. For specialists in labor law, this type of situation reinforces the importance of the presumption of innocence.
The decision also shows the need for reliable registration systems, capable of accurately identifying who carries out each operation. The absence of these mechanisms leaves room for errors and injustices.
The court emphasized that a career of more than 20 years cannot be destroyed based on presumptions, without direct proof of the infraction.
A case with symbolic value
The employee thus sees her innocence recognized, after a process that dragged on for years. The case became an example of how prudence and rigor must prevail over precipitation.
For jurists, this decision reminds us that trust is essential in work relationships and that doubt should always benefit the worker. The episode also serves as a warning to companies that apply sanctions without concrete evidence.
And in Portugal?
In national territory, similar cases have also been analyzed by labor courts, where the same principle prevails: without clear proof of the infraction, the dismissal is considered unjustified. Portuguese legislation, through the Labor Code, requires that any disciplinary sanction, and in particular dismissal, be based on facts duly proven and communicated to the employee.
When the court considers the dismissal to be unjustified, the company is obliged to reinstate the employee or, if the employee prefers, to pay compensation proportional to seniority and salary, as provided for in article 389 of the Labor Code.
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