ROME — Italy’s highest court has ruled that an employer cannot fire a worker for watching porn while on his lunch break.
Today, the Supreme Court of Cassation rejected an appeal from FIAT, the man’s employer who terminated him, according to Live Sicilia.
The worker, known as Joseph Z, had argued that his viewing was limited to merely “catching a glimpse” of sexually explicit DVDs during his lunch break at the factory in Termini Imerese, a town near Palermo in Sicily.
Joseph Z originally lost his case at a district court five years ago, but won the next round at Palermo’s court of appeal. FIAT appealed.
Today, a high court agreed with the appeals court and found FIAT liable for the unlawful termination.
"In Italy, it is extremely difficult to terminate someone. Italian employment law heavily favors the employee, said adult industry attorney Marc Randazza, of Randazza Legal Group, who has an advanced legal degree from Italy and a collaborating office in Turin, Italy.
"However, in the same supreme court session, the Italian high court confirmed that FIAT— the same employer — could fire a worker for smoking weed at work," Randazza told XBIZ.
