Anastasia Semenova Comments on ₽4m Payment on Dismissal of Nestle Employee

Pravo.ru writes about litigation between an employee of a Russian subsidiary of Nestle and the company itself. The employee managed to prove that his dismissal had been illegal and the signature on the documents had been forged, so the company had to give him his job back and pay 4 million roubles for forced unemployment. The company is trying to appeal against that court ruling in the court of cassation.

In her comment to the journal, FBK Legal’s Senior Lawyer Anastasia Semenova says that employees rarely manage to contest dismissals on such grounds. “In disputes where employees claim signature forging, courts usually rule in favour of the employer. The claimant fails to prove that the signature is not theirs. Forensic handwriting analysis gives more winning chances,” the lawyer says.

“Illegal dismissal leads to forced unemployment. It starts from illegal termination of the employment contract and ends when the employee is given their job back. If the court rules that the dismissal was illegal, the employer has to pay for forced unemployment. Therefore, the amount claimed depends on the period of forced unemployment and the employee’s average wages,” Anastasia explains.