Court Of Cassation: Unavailability During Medical Check Visits

By judgment No. 22621 of 2 July 2026, the Italian Supreme Court (Corte di Cassazione) held that, in cases of disciplinary dismissal based on an employee’s alleged unavailability during a medical examination visit, the report drawn up by the medical examiner constitutes conclusive evidence under Article 2700 of the Italian Civil Code only with regard to facts directly observed by the public official, and not with regard to the interpretation of annotations capable of different meanings.

Accordingly, statements such as “unknown/unavailable at the address” may be assessed by the court in light of the overall body of evidence, without the need to bring proceedings for forgery.

The Supreme Court further confirmed that where the conduct at issue is classified by the applicable collective bargaining agreement as warranting a disciplinary sanction of a conservative nature, the reinstatement protection provided for under Article 18, paragraph 4, of the Workers’ Statute applies, thereby precluding the legitimacy of dismissal.

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