This case concerned an employee of a transport company who challenged the disciplinary sanctions he had received, including dismissal, claiming that he had been punished for reporting the system devised and implemented by his colleagues to the company.

The Court of Milan, considering that the necessary factual and legal requirements were present, granted the whistleblower precautionary protection, suspending all company disciplinary measures and reinstating the employee in the company.

The decision is significant because it is one of the first rendered on whistleblower protection.

In a previous edition, we reported the case of the South Australian district court decision, which adopted a restrictive interpretation of the scope of whistleblower protections, considering them to apply only to whistleblowing and not to prior preparatory conduct by the employee.

It is useful to occasionally examine the application and interpretation of the national laws transposing the European Directive by the courts to understand how, in concrete terms, the principles enunciated by the EU find their effectiveness in individual legal systems.

You can find the most recent legislative developments in the various countries in our previous articles here.