Catalan employee loses severance payment of 60,318.50 euros for stealing six rolls of toilet paper from hotel she worked for for 30 years

The employee had been working at the hotel for 30 years when, the day after the incident, she received her letter of dismissal. However, she explained herself as follows: "When my son came to pick me up, the dog had vomitted in the car, so I picked them up to clean it up."

Unhappy with her dismissal, she took legal action and the labour court partially upheld her claim. The court ruled that the dismissal was unfair and ordered the company either to reinstate her or to pay her compensation of 60,318.50 euros.

The court ruled that the incident was not serious enough to warrant dismissal, given the negligible financial value of the toilet paper and the fact that the dog emergency justified it.

The company, however, decided to appeal and succeeded in having the High Court of Justice of Catalonia uphold its claim.

The court noted that the veterinary certificate was dated after the offence took place and that the CCTV footage did not support the employee's account. Furthermore, it accepted the document signed by the employee in which she expressly admitted to the theft, ruling out any defect in her consent.

Furthermore, the court explained that the seriousness of this type of conduct does not depend on the harm caused or the value of the stolen goods, but rather on the irreparable breach of trust and contractual good faith.

Consequently, the High Court of Justice of Catalonia ruled that the dismissal was justified. As it was on disciplinary grounds, it did not entitle the employee to severance pay, despite her three decades of service.

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