Firon Bar-Nir obtains a final decision in appeal which overturns the first instance’s ruling whereby the Tribunal cancelled the decision of the employer’s general meeting of shareholders to restructure the business of the company by terminating all jobs in a specific area of activity and, therefore, issued a decision on the dismissal of a pregnant employee for reasons not related to her person.

Initially, the Bucharest Tribunal cancelled the decision of the general meeting of shareholders to terminate all jobs in a particular area of business of the employer-company, ordered that the pregnant employee be re-hired for the position previously held and compelled the employer to pay an indemnity equal to the indexed salary, increased and updated with the other salary-related amounts the employee would have been entitled to from the date of dismissal until she would have been actually reemployed.

In ruling on the appeal filed by the employer, the Bucharest Court of Appeal confirmed the arguments raised by Firon Bar-Nir in the first procedural stage and ordered that the ruling rendered by the Bucharest Tribunal be altered, that is, the statement of claims filed by the employee dismissed while pregnant within the business restructuring process be overturned as groundless.

This decision of the Bucharest Court of Appeal is of a particular importance for the manner in which the provisions of Article 60(1)(c) of the Labour Code, which presumes the absoluteness of the interdiction to dismiss an employee while pregnant, irrespective of the reason underlying such a decision, subject solely to a prior notification of the employer, are to be read in conjunction with the provisions of Article 21(1)(a) of Government Emergency Ordinance No 96/2003 for the transposition of Council Directive 92/85/EEC, according to which a pregnant employee is protected only insofar as her dismissal relies on reasons directly related to her condition.

Cosmin Șovar, Senior Associate, is the one who coordinated this file.

The Litigation and Insolvency Departments which Firon Bar-Nir is very proud of has a wealth of experience in assisting and representing national and international entrepreneurs and developers as well as public authorities and institutions in a wide array of court disputes. The Litigation and Arbitration Department as well as the Insolvency and Restructuring Department are coordinated by Cătălin Cotorogea, Partner.