The Social Chamber of the High Court of Justice of the Canary Islands, based in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, dismissed in 2026 the appeal filed by the mutual insurance company Fraternidad-Muprespa against the judgment issued by the lower court. The court ruling fully upholds the right of a worker involved in extracurricular activities in the province to receive financial benefits for pregnancy-related risks, and orders the collaborating entity to pay court costs in the amount of 800 euros.
The legal dispute originates from a formal request submitted by the employee on November 27, 2024, when she was performing the functions of coordinating activities and projects at an educational center in the south of the island, with a planned delivery date in 2025. The worker, registered in the general Social Security system with a regulatory base of 1.379,65 euros and affected by a previous pathology of myotonia aggravated by the pregnancy and the withdrawal of medication, requested protection as she was forced to remain seated for prolonged periods for eight hours a day in front of the computer.
The mutual insurance company initially denied coverage, arguing that the muscle injury did not stem directly from the agents or conditions of the job and that the company had adapted the duties to teleworking. However, the High Court upheld the lower court's decision, finding that, while the company did allow remote work from home, it did not provide a specific occupational risk assessment that explicitly addressed this work modality, nor did it train the employee to ensure that the risks associated with sitting were tolerable.
The judges' ruling confirms that the absence of such documentary evaluation shifts the burden of proof to the managing or collaborating entity. The judgment emphasizes that the working conditions within the educational and project-based activities in the province, combined with the pregnant woman's medical condition, constituted a situation requiring protection, preventing the continuation of the ordinary work schedule without jeopardizing the health of the fetus and the mother. With this ruling, the court also orders the appellant mutual insurance company to forfeit the deposit made and to pay the court costs established in the appeal proceedings.
