Norway: New Ruling from the Supreme Court – No Obligation to Consider Reassignment in Summary Dismissal Cases

In a brand-new judgement (HR-2025-1687-A), the Supreme Court has clarified that employers are not obligated to consider reassignment of employees in cases of summary dismissal.  The ruling provides important clarification for employers handling serious personnel matters.

Case background
The case concerned a nurse who was summarily dismissed after slapping a mentally disabled service user across the cheek with an open hand. The Court of Appeal found the summary dismissal unlawful, partly because the employer had not considered reassigning the nurse. In its reasoning, the Court of Appeal referred to a Supreme Court ruling from last year (HR-2024-1188-A), which established that there is a limited and situational duty for employers to consider reassignment in cases of termination due to the employee’s conduct (for a more detailed discussion of the judgement, please refer to our law tracker from September 2024).

The Supreme Court’s assessment
The main issue before the Supreme Court was whether there is a corresponding duty to consider reassignment in summary dismissal cases, and if so, what the scope of such a duty would be.

The Supreme Court referred to its decision from 2024, where it held that no duty to consider reassignment exists in termination cases involving serious breaches of duty that undermine the employer’s trust in the employee.

The Supreme Court emphasised that summary dismissal cases involve serious breaches of duty on the part of the employee, which usually mean that the employer no longer has trust in the employee. Since the Supreme Court in the 2024 case found that there was no duty to consider reassignment in termination cases involving such breaches, there was even stronger reason not to impose such a duty in summary dismissal cases.

The Supreme Court therefore concluded that employers have no duty to consider reassignment in dismissal cases.