Success Story: The Case of M.M – Protecting Employee Rights against Unfair Dismissal

The client with initials M.M was an employee in the senior position of administrator of a large company in Albania. This made the case even more poignant due to close family relations with the owner of the company, as she was her husband's sister. Under these circumstances, she had worked at this company with dedication for 17 years. During this period, she had made a significant contribution to the growth of the company and naturally to the company's revenues, and for these indicators, she had received several positive evaluations for her performance.

However, one day without sufficient warning and without following the legal procedures provided for dismissals, the company notified her of immediate dismissal without justified cause. The plaintiff at the moment of dismissal was also in a sick health condition, documented with a report for temporary incapacity due to illness, which according to the law is paid by the employer.

Problems that appeared with the dismissal:

• Dismissal without warning and without a time limit for defense;
• Lack of legal cause and clear documentation to justify the decision;
• Violation of employee rights due to non-compliance with the Labor Code.

The client's lawyer, after analyzing the employment contract and the legislation in force, found the following violations:

• Non-compliance with the minimum notice period for dismissal;
• Non-payment in full of salaries and benefits until the moment of contract termination;
• Immediate dismissal without justified reasons in accordance with Article 155/3 of the Labor Code.

Based on these, the lawyer prepared the lawsuit and requested:

• Acceptance of the lawsuit request;
• Obligation of the company to pay damages in the amount of 12 monthly salaries for unfair dismissal and without justified causes;
• Obligation to pay 3 monthly salaries for non-compliance with the notice period;
• Compensation of 2 monthly salaries for non-compliance with the contract termination procedure;
• Payment of 9 monthly salaries due to seniority at work;
• Compensation for untaken holidays for the years 2020-2021;
• Responsibility of the defendant for payment of court expenses.

The lawyer supported the lawsuit with full evidence such as the employment contract, medical reports, invoices of unpaid salaries, and other relevant documents.

After several months of review, the Tirana Judicial District Court decided:

• Acceptance of the lawsuit request.
• Obligation of the defendant to pay the plaintiff M.M the respective salary amount for 12 months, due to immediate dismissal without justified reasons.
• Obligation of the defendant to pay 2 months' salary for non-compliance with procedures regarding dismissal.
• Payment of an amount of 4 months and 15 working days as a reward for seniority.
• As a basis for calculating the compensation, the plaintiff's last salary was taken, in the amount of 114,670 ALL per month.
• Charging the defendant with court expenses.

This court decision represents an important victory for employee rights in Albania, setting the standard for employer compliance with legal procedures in dismissals and thus punishing violations of employee rights regardless of their relationships, even if close family ones. This decision becomes even more valuable today as in Albanian practice it has rarely happened that a company administrator files a lawsuit against the decision of the Partner(s) Assembly for dismissal without any motive.