He Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands (TSJC) has backed a company’s decision to fire a worker who admitted to misusing a corporate card. The employee, who had spent 800 euros on personal purposes without justifying them, was fired for loss of confidence after a review of the accounts. Although he was initially compensated, the man filed a lawsuit alleging that the company had prior knowledge of the expenses. However, the court concluded that the company was unaware of the charges and that the dismissal was fair.
The worker, who worked in a company in the industrial sector of Tenerife since 2014, was fired in June 2021 after management discovered an unidentified charge on the corporate card he had been provided with. The employee admitted that the expenses were for personal purposes and never justified them. The company considered this behavior a serious and egregious misconduct that resulted in a loss of trust, which led to disciplinary dismissal.
He signed his agreement with the facts
Despite the employee signed his agreement with the facts and received compensation of 540 euros, subsequently filed a lawsuit alleging that the company already knew of the expenses. The worker argued that the 60-day period stipulated for dismissals for serious reasons had expired since the irregularity was detected. However, the Social Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands determined that the company was unaware of the charges until the accounting review and that there was concealment by the employee, despite the fact that the expenses appeared on the bank receipt.
The judgment of the TSJC supports the dismissal carried out by the company, affirming that the improper use of the corporate card constitutes a loss of confidence that justifies the disciplinary measure. The court considered that the entity was not aware of the expenses until the accounting review was carried out and that the 60-day period had not expired. With this decision, the validity of the dismissal is ratified and the origin of the measure adopted by the company in the face of the serious non-compliance of the worker is confirmed.
