The Court of Appeal of Rome issued a judgment on June 15, stating that the ‘block’ on dismissals, introduced by Article 46 of the D.L. “Cura Italia” no. 18/2020, also applies to executives. The provision was introduced during the health emergency and expired on October 31, 2022.
The judgment contradicts a previous decision of the Rome Tribunal, which argued that executives were excluded from the ‘block’ based on Article 10 of Law no. 604/1966. Some first-instance judges, including the Milan Tribunal, ruled in favor of applying the ‘block’ to executives, asserting that the economic consequences of the pandemic should not lead to the immediate loss of jobs, even for top-level employees.
Other courts, such as the Trieste Tribunal, have supported the exclusion of executives from the ‘block’ based on legal provisions and the lack of social safety nets for executives.
The issue remains controversial, and therefore, dismissals of executives during the period between March 2020 and October 2021 are still uncertain.
Thus, cases concerning the dismissal of executives during the period between March 2020 and October 2021 remain undecided until the Court of Cassation, which will have to examine at least two appellate judgments on the matter in the coming months, pronounces its decision.
