On January 31, 2023, EAV was convicted by the Court of Naples because in March 2020 it had harassed three employees who had refused, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, to drive buses without protective masks, which the company was supposed to provide, but did not.
"The events unfolded in a paradoxical manner, at the beginning, and perversely later. In those days of great confusion and great concern due to the pandemic that had "rained down on us" without us knowing exactly what behaviors to adopt, it was however the obligation of transport companies to provide all workers, in direct contact with travelers, with personal protective equipment", explains the Orsa union in a note.
And then he adds: “Gloves, masks and sanitizing gel. Well, this did not happen for all sectors of EAV, especially for the Automotive Transport Division and, to pay the price, were only the drivers, but above all the three Workers who won the case.
They, along with many others, refused to drive the buses, in the absence of protective masks and were contested by the company management, but only for the three of them, exclusively for the three of them, a disciplinary measure was even started which could have led to dismissal!!
Subsequently, they had asked to be able to discuss what they were accused of with company officials, assisted by representatives of the OR.SA TRASPORTI Union, as required by law, but EAV with a perverse inconsistency, "fearing that a meeting with more than 3 or 4 people could be a source of contagion, asked the workers to submit the justifications by email, despite having required that the drivers work without personal protective equipment".
The sanction was changed, no longer dismissal but a 50% reduction in his monthly salary and the forced transfer of his work residence from the Naples-Galileo Ferraris warehouse to the Agnano warehouse were imposed. This latter behavior, "with clearly retaliatory and discriminatory content and as such unlawful", was even more prejudicial for one of the three who was a beneficiary of the benefits of Law 104/92, as he had (and has) a child with a serious handicap.
No one else was sanctioned for the same “fault”, yet there were quite a few who, like them in those days, had demanded at least masks to work in contact with travellers.
The Court, in ruling no. 603/2023 of 31.01.2023/2087/19, recalled art. 14 of the Civil Code which states: "the employer is obliged to ensure working conditions suitable for guaranteeing the safety and physical integrity of workers"; and that the Shared Protocol regulating measures to combat and contain the spread of the Covid-2020 virus in the workplace, dated 6 March XNUMX, shared between the Trade Unions, the Presidency of the Council, and all the Ministries involved, provided in art. XNUMX that companies were obliged to provide personal protective equipment to personnel in service.
The Judge declared “EAV’s behavior illegitimate and that the workers were acting in good faith in refusing to work without masks in those days when the virus had a highly lethal potential”, and ordered the company to pay damages for all the behaviors it adopted: disciplinary sanctions, forced transfer.
Justice has been done, now we expect EAV to respect the sentence and to do so soon”
Article published on 8 February 2023 - 19:18
