The Superior Court of Justice of Cantabria has declared inadmissible the dismissal of a worker who went to a concert the same day she received sick leave due to anxiety, understanding that said activity is not contraindicated in “a psychological ailment such as an anxiety crisis.” like the one who suffered.
In a ruling dated April 12 to which EFE has had access, the Court rejects the appeal presented by the company where the employee provided services against a ruling by a social court.
This is how the events unfolded: at 7:00 a.m. on June 9, 2023, the employee, whose work day lasted from 5:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., burst into tears, told her colleagues that she was very anxious, and left her job. . He went to an Emergency Department, where he was discharged at 9:55 a.m. and, around 11:00 a.m., he reported his visit to the emergency room via WhatsApp messages to his superior, to whom he “reported that he was constantly crying and that he didn’t. could control,” according to the company, which justified his absence from the day. Around 12:00 p.m., the family doctor called the worker by phone and informed her of her sick leave, but the worker did not transfer him to the company, the ruling states.
The next day, Saturday, “you did not come to work,” the dismissal letter states, and “those responsible for the company were not surprised, since you had been unwell since the day before.”
That same Saturday, his colleagues verified through the local press that a concert by the artist Manuel Carrasco had been held the night before. In one of the photos the employee appeared dancing with her arm raised, “enjoying and singing the singer’s songs, in a mood and in a state that, in no way, coincides with the one she conveyed to the company’s managers during the morning. “, noted the company.
The worker “appears relaxed, in good spirits, without any hint of sobbing and with her hand raised, pointing to the sky with her index finger, gesturing in what can be seen a cry of satisfaction, animation and support for the spectacle she is witnessing”, added the dismissal letter. “It is at this moment when the Company realizes that its actions have been a fraud,” she stated. “What in principle or in appearance would justify her absence is evidently not due to real illnesses that require it, but rather to simulation with the purpose of not going to work,” the employer justified.
The employee appealed her dismissal and the TSJ of Cantabria considers that, during the concert, the plaintiff did not carry out “any type of procedure that could be understood as contraindicated to her mental situation.”
The woman did not carry out a general activity “contraindicated with the ailments – specifically with a mental ailment such as an anxiety crisis,” highlights the ruling, which adds that “it is known that mental ailments benefit from acting with others, to go out and not isolate themselves, so attending a concert can in no way be seen as counterproductive.” In addition, there is the medical leave document due to anxiety granted by a health service.
Going to a musical concert on the night of a medical leave granted for a common illness and the prescribed treatment “does not harm your health” and is not incompatible with your leave for depression and/or anxiety and the corresponding treatment.
The fact that relaxing drugs had been administered to him the morning before attending the concert has no relation to the simulation or falsity of his story, the magistrates conclude.