In a landmark ruling, the Canary Islands High Court of Justice (TSJC) has declared void the dismissal of a lifeguard whose company fired him the same day he suffered a heart attack. The ruling overturns the decision of a lower court and orders the company to reinstate the worker, pay him his salary, and compensate him with €7.501 in compensation for moral damages.
The company claimed that the worker, who had begun his employment on October 26, 2023, with a two-month probationary period, had not passed it due to alleged customer complaints. However, the lifeguard, who suffered a heart attack on November 9, 2023, at his workplace, asserted that his termination was due precisely to his health, not his performance.
The TSJC sided with the employee, describing it as "symptomatic" that the dismissal, supposedly processed days earlier, coincided with the date of the heart attack. The court found the company's explanations illogical and that its witnesses had contradicted themselves multiple times. The company's lack of documentary evidence to support its complaints reinforced the TSJC's decision.
The ruling by the Canary Islands High Court of Justice emphasizes that Law 15/2022 explicitly prohibits discrimination on the grounds of health. The High Court concluded that the true reason for the dismissal was the lifeguard's illness, which constitutes a violation of his fundamental right to equality and non-discrimination. Therefore, the company must reinstate the lifeguard to his position and pay him both the processing wages and severance pay, in a ruling that strengthens the protection of workers in situations of illness.
