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Company Hires Detective to Catch Employee Drinking During Work Hours, Compiles Bar and Parking Reports, Fires for “Serious Misconduct,” and Sees Court Point Out Evidence Flaws, Awarding €47,000 in Compensation
A Spanish worker fired for consuming beer during work hours received compensation equivalent to US$ 55,000 following a court ruling. The case drew attention because, while the company considered the behavior serious misconduct, the court found the punishment to be disproportionate given the circumstances.
Next, see what happened and why the decision favored the former employee.
The Dismissal After Suspicions and Investigation with a Detective
According to court documents, the employee began to raise suspicion among superiors due to unusual behavior at work. In light of these suspicions, the electrical installation company hired a private detective to follow the worker’s routine for several days.
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The report submitted by the investigator indicated that he consumed beer at different times of the day, including at bars and parking lots. In one of the cited incidents, the man reportedly drank approximately three liters of beer during his lunch break.
For the company, the consumption of alcohol was even more concerning because the employee drove a company vehicle, which, according to the employer, could put others at risk. Based on this, the company opted for dismissal. However, the worker took legal action, claiming unjust dismissal.
Why the Court Considered the Punishment “Excessive”
The case was analyzed by the High Court of Justice of Murcia in Spain, which ruled in favor of the worker. Even acknowledging the inappropriate conduct, the judges assessed that the dismissal was too severe a measure and therefore classified it as unjustified.
With the decision, the company received two options: reinstate the employee or pay a compensation of €47,000 (approximately US$ 55,000, according to the conversion cited in the case).
The court based its decision on several key points:
- The lunch break was not technically considered part of the working hours, which weakened the argument for formal misconduct during work time.
- The company failed to prove that the consumption of beer affected the employee’s performance or that he actually put others in danger.
- Spanish legislation, according to the ruling, does not allow dismissal for occasional drunkenness, only in cases of habitual consumption. The incidents recorded by the detective were interpreted as isolated, rather than as a continuous pattern.
The final outcome reinforces a common message in labor disputes: even when there is misconduct, the court can evaluate whether the punishment applied was proportionate and, in some cases, determine compensation for the worker.
The information in this case is based on the official ruling by the High Court of Justice of the Region of Murcia (TSJMU) in Spain.
- Court: Social Chamber of the TSJ of Murcia
- Date of the Decision: March 14, 2023
- Case Number: 246/2023
- ECLI: ES:TSJMU:2023:304
- Fixed Compensation: €47,028.60
The complete decision can be consulted in public legal databases of Spain (CENDOJ) and has also been reproduced by specialized labor law portals, such as Economist & Jurist and Confilegal, which published excerpts of the case and the reasoning adopted by the judges.
The employee’s name was not fully disclosed in public documents, following the standard anonymization practice adopted by the Spanish judiciary.
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