Italian Supreme Court rules that the relocation of a journalist on the grounds that the latter is incompatible with his workplace is unlawful unless the employer provides evidence of such incompatibility.

The Italian Supreme Court handed down the above-described ruling with judgment no. 25799 filed on December 2 2011.

The Court upheld the decision reached by a lower court in proceedings commenced by a journalist against the relocation arranged by his employer on the grounds of the journalist’s incompatibility with his workplace (which had allegedly arisen after numerous – unproven – accusations had been made in national newspapers).

The Supreme Court judges upheld the lower court’s ruling that the employer had arranged for the journalist to be relocated without just cause in violation of article 2103 of the Italian Civil Code.

The employer had, in fact, failed to prove that the journalist’s alleged incompatibility with his workplace was such as to adversely affect the work environment and the employer’s productivity and organizational needs.