HEIRS RECEIVE COMPENSATION FOR THE BIOLOGICAL DAMAGE OF THEIR RELATIVE
16/02/2018
The heirs of a deceased employee took action against the company in order to obtain the compensation which was owed to their relative, who had died ahead of time so was not given said compensation owed to him, in person. In particular they asked to be entitled to collect the compensation (owed to their relative) which regarded the biological damage which had matured during the time that spanned from the onset of his disease to his premature death.
The court of Cassation acknowledged the heirs’ right declaring: “In the event of an injury which, even after a short period of time, ultimately causes death, the victim, being of conscious mind and having awareness of their impeding demise, suffers from a psychological damage whose entity has nothing to do with the period of time between injury and death, but regards the intensity of the sufferance experienced by the victim of this damage, whose compensation can be reclaimed by his heirs”.
(A similar sentence was expressed by Cass., sez. 3^, 14.2.2007, n. 3260 e Cass. sez. 3^, 2.4.2001, n. 4783)” Corte di Cassazione, sez. Lavoro, ordinanza n. 29759/17; depositata il 12 dicembre.
Traduzione di Laura Pettinato Devetachi
In Italy, employees were protected by art. 18 of act n. 300/1970 (usually called “employees statue”), until 2014: workers unjustly fired could sue their employer for being reinstated to their job and for damages (salaries from firing to reinstating). So, if the judge had declared unlawful dismissal, companies had to pay years of salary and social security contribution, even if they didn’t’ get any job performance by fired employees (Italian trials were really slow). From 2015, this won’t happen anymore. In case of unlawful dismissal, employers will only have to pay damages to workers. This compensation will be reasonable: from 4 to 24 months of salary (2 months per year of working). Employees won’t have the right to be reinstated to their job, except for specific situations. So, if he doesn’t appreciate the worker, the employer won’t be obliged to readmit him in his company (except for racial, political and religious discrimination). According to new acts, civil trials are faster, thanks to their computerization. Now payment orders can be issued in a few days. Before, it took several months. Besides, debtors that refuse payments are obliged to pay default interest of 9%. So they have no incentive to delay payments: this would be too expensive. Creditors can ask the court for an order to search in public records debtor’s goods and current accounts to be attached (now access to records is allowed only to specialized agencies) . This new procedural instrument allows to attack debtor's assets more easily. Creditors will be satisfied effectively and more quickly. In this section of the website, we are going to show all this brandnew rules.
espanol