Spanish courts rule on pension fraud and labor dismissal cases

In La Rioja, Spain, the High Court of Justice has upheld a ruling requiring a retiree to repay approximately €46,837 to Social Security. The individual had been receiving a pension since 2014 while simultaneously conducting independent farming activities. To conceal this income, the retiree registered the business under his wife's name, allowing her to claim incapacity benefits while he avoided taxes.

The court dismissed the retiree's appeal, which argued that pension receipt is compatible with self-employment under certain income thresholds. The court clarified that the pension was incompatible with his specific employment situation and characterized the arrangement as a “blatant fraud.”

In a separate labor case in Catalonia, the High Court of Justice overturned a previous ruling regarding a hotel employee with 30 years of service. The employee had been dismissed after being caught taking six rolls of toilet paper from the establishment. While a lower court initially deemed the dismissal disproportionate given the employee's tenure and the minor value of the items, the higher court focused on the breach of trust and the violation of good faith, upholding the dismissal and denying the employee a severance payment of over €60,000.