The court upheld the disciplinary dismissal, confirming that sexual harassment, combined with the employee’s prior record, constitutes a very serious offense justifying termination.
On March 2, 2026, the Labor Chamber of the High Court of Justice of Catalonia (Appeal No. 4943/2025) dismissed the appeal filed by an employee and upheld the ruling that upheld the disciplinary dismissal.
This decision was based on the finding that the employee had engaged in conduct constituting sexual harassment against a minor female coworker who was completing an internship at the company.
In his appeal, the plaintiff argued that the alleged acts—namely, grabbing the young woman’s hand and telling her, “You’re really hot, mamasita”—occurred in a “joking” and “humorous” context, noting that he was simply humming a popular song.
He also alleged a violation regarding the interpretation of the grounds for disciplinary dismissal, requesting the application of the gradualist doctrine and the principle of proportionality in an attempt to have the dismissal declared unjustified.
For its part, the defendant company, in its response, requested that the appeal be dismissed, emphasizing the extreme seriousness of the employee’s conduct, which it also supported by citing the plaintiff’s disciplinary record—he had received previous warnings and suspensions for offensive and derogatory comments about the bodies of other female employees at the company.
In light of this situation, the Court categorically rejected the notion that the incident constituted a joke, citing the definitions set forth in ILO Convention No. 190 on violence and harassment in the world of work.
Regarding the impossibility of applying the gradualist theory to mitigate the penalty, the Court noted the following:
“FOURTH.—(…) Applying this doctrine to the case at hand, the factual account in the lower court’s judgment constitutes a prototypical case of sexual harassment in the workplace that directly violates the dignity and moral integrity of the female employee at whom the remark and the other proven acts were directed.”
It further added that:
“(…) The remark made by the defendant, ‘you’re really hot, sweetie,’ is objectively unacceptable due to its content in a workplace context, especially since it was directed at a female coworker who was a minor and had no prior experience at the company—as she was an intern—and who was grabbed by the hand by the plaintiff, inevitably creating an extremely uncomfortable situation given her heightened vulnerability as the victim of conduct directed at a very young person with no work experience.”
Finally, it stated that:
“None of the foregoing constitutes a ‘joking’ or ‘humorous’ situation, as alleged by the appellant; on the contrary, it constitutes a situation of sexual harassment in the workplace warranting disciplinary dismissal.”
Thus, the Court concludes that the employee’s conduct is of such particular gravity that it does not permit the application of the proportionality or mitigation sought by the appellant.
Consequently, the disciplinary dismissal is upheld, confirming that the sexual harassment, combined with the employee’s prior record, constitutes a very serious offense justifying termination.
For more information on these issues, please contact our Labor Group:
Jorge Arredondo | Partner | jarredondo@az.cl
Jocelyn Aros | Director Labor Group | jaros@az.cl
Felipe Neira | Senior Associate | fneira@az.cl
Palmira Valdivia | Associate | pvaldivia@az.cl
Manuel Sepúlveda | Associate | msepulveda@az.cl
Catalina Díaz | Associate | cdiazp@az.cl
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