The Catania Employment Tribunal, by referring to a precedent from the Florence Tribunal, issued an order stating that dismissal of an employee via Whatsapp is legitimate. In the Court’s opinion, the means used by the employer, nevertheless, satisfied the need of a written format as it was an informative document which the dismissed worker, in this case, clearly considered to be from her employer as she promptly challenged it. On this point, the Tribunal mentioned that, according to the Supreme Court “an employer is not required to use fixed, specific formats” and that s/he can “also express his/her intention to dismiss a worker by an indirect method providing that it is clear”. In the same decision, the Tribunal also expressed its opinion about the challenge made by the worker regarding the lack of powers of the person who delivered the dismissal, as the disciplinary measure was signed by the technical manager and not by the employer. In rejecting this challenge, the Tribunal mentioned that the provisions under Art. 1399 of the Italian Civil Code, which provide for the possibility of retroactive ratification – but with the rights of third parties being safeguarded – of the contract that was concluded by a person lacking the powers of representation, can also be applied, pursuant to Art. 1324 of the Italian Civil Code, to unilateral contractual decisions such as dismissal.
