Thirty years of loyalty ended with a letter of dismissal for a curious reason. A Carrefour worker, with more than three decades of service, was fired after taking cakes to celebrate his birthday with his colleagues. The company accused him of violating contractual good faith, but the Superior Court of Galicia considered the decision disproportionate and declared the dismissal unfounded, forcing the French chain to pay 105,716.09 euros in compensation.
The case began in November 2023, when the employee, commercial manager of the bazaar sector, ordered pastries to share with colleagues before the store opened. He paid 58 euros at the time, and the remaining amount, around twelve days later, when he met with the management.
Thirty years of work and a misinterpreted gesture
According to the sentence, cited by the Spanish portal Noticias Trabajo, the worker had an open-ended contract, full working hours and earned a salary of 3,680 euros per month. Carrefour justified the dismissal based on the Workers’ Statute, alleging a “breach of contractual good faith” and “improper use of company resources”.
However, the court found that there was no intention to defraud nor willful behavior. The employee paid the missing amount as soon as he noticed the error and informed the company immediately, asking that his fellow cashier not be penalized.
Vigo Court finds the worker in favor
In the first instance, the Juzgado de lo Social no. 5 of Vigo declared the dismissal unfounded, stressing that the conduct was not serious enough to justify the extreme measure. The judge highlighted that, in previous years, other workers had celebrated birthdays in the same way without any disciplinary sanction.
The decision forced Carrefour to choose between readmitting the dismissed employee or paying him compensation in excess of 100 thousand euros, plus the corresponding processing wages.
The Superior Court confirms the sentence
The company appealed, but the Galicia Superior Court upheld the decision. The working room understood that “no intent or intention to cause harm was demonstrated” and that the sanction applied was manifestly disproportionate. The court recognized that the worker acted in good faith and that what happened was merely the result of administrative confusion.
Disproportionate dismissal and lack of loss
The judges stressed that contractual good faith is an essential principle, especially in positions of responsibility, but stressed that sanctions must be proportionate and based on proven facts. In this case, there was no loss to the company or repetition of similar conduct.
The court decision also highlights that, on other birthdays of the same worker, products were also distributed without any penalty, which reinforces the idea that the company tolerated these practices.
A symbolic victory for workers
The case generated debate about the disciplinary rigor of large commercial areas and the limit between internal rules and common sense. For the court, dismissing someone for sharing cakes on a birthday is an excessive and unjustified measure, especially in the case of an employee with more than 30 years of experience.
With this decision, Carrefour was ordered to pay 105,716.09 euros in compensationan amount that corresponds to three years of salary of the dismissed worker, in addition to outstanding wages.
A case that marked jurisprudence
According to , sentence 3078/2025 of the Superior Court of Galicia could serve as a precedent for similar situations, where minor infractions are disproportionately punished. The decision calls for companies to consider before resorting to dismissal as the first disciplinary response.
Experts in labor law argue that the case reinforces the importance of proportionality and analysis of the context in each decision. “The employment relationship cannot be seen as a production line without humanity”, commented a labor lawyer quoted by the Spanish press.
In Portugal, the law strictly protects anyone who is dismissed without just cause. When the court declares an unlawful dismissal, the employee has the right to be reinstated in the company or, alternatively, to receive compensation calculated based on years of service.
The decision is up to the worker himself, except in small companies where readmission may be unfeasible. Furthermore, during the process, the worker maintains the right to interim wages, which can represent high values in cases with many years of employment, in accordance with article 390 of the Labor Code.
Workers’ reaction
Among colleagues and former employees, the outcome was received with satisfaction. “He was always a correct person, he never wanted to harm anyone,” said colleagues quoted by the local press. The worker, who preferred to remain anonymous, declared himself “relieved that justice had been done”.
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