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Chilean media outlets reported the case of Comercial Maicao Limitada, a company that will have to pay compensation to an employee who was fired for leaving work early due to a toothache.
According to the sentence issued by the Second Letters Court of Santiago, the employee had a working schedule from 11:15 am to 7:30 pm, with a lunch break from 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm.
On Friday, April 30, 2021, the worker used his lunch break to leave, but did not return to work. He stated that he went home to take medication to relieve his toothache.
In his statement, the employee explained that after taking the medication, he did not feel well enough to perform his work duties, as reported by Meganoticias.
Although he did not inform his boss about his situation, the employee indicated that she already knew that he was suffering from intense tooth pain and that he was undergoing treatment.
The dismissal
On the following Monday, he returned to work, but was informed that he had been fired. "He left the premises during his lunch break at 2:32 pm, without subsequently returning to his duties, thus leaving his job without permission from the aforementioned management", details the dismissal letter.
"Nevertheless, this conduct alone constitutes a cause for termination of the contract, it is worth indicating, additionally, that your actions certainly affected the operation of the aforementioned premises, where you were the only storekeeper", concludes the document.
Thus, the Second Letters Court of Santiago determined that the employee did not leave the company abruptly, but rather "left to take his lunch break at 2:32 minutes, without returning to his duties after the designated time, so it is not verified that it was an untimely departure during his working hours, or lacking sufficient justification for it, requirements that must concur in a cumulative manner".
Furthermore, it is stated that it was not proven that "the employee's departure caused any type of harm to the company".
The fines that the company must pay
In this way, the institution accepted the man's lawsuit, declaring the dismissal as arbitrary and ordering the company to pay the following compensations:
- $580,740 (708 dollars) as substitute notice indemnity.
- $2,322,960 (2,834 dollars) as three years of service indemnity.
- $1,858,368 (2,267 dollars) as an 80% increment.