Spanish court rules public worker’s suicide was work-related

The victim had been on sick leave for a year due to anxiety and had requested a change of job

J. M. L.

Monday, 20 March 2023, 15:22

The High Court of Justice of Castilla-La Mancha (TSJCLM) has ruled that the death by suicide of a member of staff at Albacete City Council was an "accident at work". The employee, named Carlos, took his own life in September 2017, one day before he was due to return to work after being on sick leave for a year due to stress and anxiety resulting from harassment he received at work.

Although Carlos had formally requested to work in another department, according to Albacete City Council, the request was never granted because it didn’t fit his job category. As a result, he decided to use up his holiday entitlement and in August 2017 asked for medical leave. It was then that the mutual insurance company ruled that Carlos should return to work and the he was told by social security he could go back to work.

According to the general secretary of the CC.OO union in Albacete, Carmen Juste, "psychosocial risks are still underestimated in companies and administrations, hence the importance of this ruling". Another consequence of this court ruling is that the widow and daughter of the deceased will be able to receive a widow's and an orphan's pension.