Dismissal on two grounds: Must both be proven to justify dismissal?

It is important to note that the company’s position was that labor legislation does not establish as a burden on the employer the need to prove each and every one of the grounds invoked.

One of the most constant discussions in the courts is related to the problem derived from the dismissal of an employee based on two grounds for termination of the employment contract, and the requirement that in court all of them must be proven, or whether, on the contrary, at least one of the grounds must be proven in order to understand that the dismissal is justified.

Indeed, certain case law requires that in the case of a dismissal based on two or more of the grounds contemplated in the Labor Code, the employer must, in the context of a trial, prove the concurrence of each one of them, so that the respective court can consider such decision as justified. Therefore, in the event of failure to do so with respect to one of them, the dismissal must be declared as unjustified.

In resolving a discussion in this regard, the Supreme Court (case No. 26,605-2023), hearing an appeal for unification of jurisprudence, resolved the problem of “determining whether, in the event that the employer invokes one or more legal grounds to terminate the employment relationship, it is obliged to prove all of them copulatively or, on the contrary, it is sufficient to prove only one of the legal grounds for termination invoked in the letter of dismissal”.

It is important to note that the company’s position was that the labor legislation does not establish as a burden for the employer the need to prove each and every one of the grounds invoked. Therefore, once one of them was proven, it was appropriate to dismiss the claim and declare the dismissal justified, since the most important thing in a dismissal lawsuit is the facts, since the legal qualification is a matter expressly reserved to the judge.

In resolving this matter, the Court states that “If, in the opinion of the judiciary, the facts that were considered to be accredited in the instance, at least one of the grounds for dismissal invoked in the respective letter, the employment contract is understood to be terminated on said grounds”, adding that “The reasoning in the preceding paragraphs unifies the jurisprudence in the sense that in order to qualify a dismissal as justified, it is sufficient for the employer to prove the facts constituting one of the grounds for dismissal invoked, not being obliged to prove, copulatively, all of them”.

This is an extremely relevant pronouncement since it establishes the scope and correct position, in our opinion, with respect to this problem.

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