Spain: New Publication by the Spanish Constitutional Court

On September 10, 2025, the Constitutional Court published information note no. 68/2025. This publication anticipates the future ruling on a case brought before Labour Court No. 6 of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (No. 64/2022), relating to a dismissal wherein the employee claimed that it was null and void, arguing that the termination was solely motivated by an internal complaint that he had made.

In this case, the employee claimed a violation of his guarantee of indemnity, that is, the right not to suffer reprisals for exercising his right to judicial protection.

The guarantee of indemnity is a prerogative that emanates directly from Article 24 of the Spanish Constitution. Therefore, it is understood that such a guarantee is considered a fundamental right for all purposes.

Historically, this right was limited to the lawsuit filing, i.e., the guarantee of indemnity was only activated when the employee filed a lawsuit and was subsequently dismissed in retaliation.

However, case law has broadened the scope of protection of the guarantee of indemnity, and Spanish courts are now applying this guarantee even when the employee makes an internal complaint.

In the specific case of the information note, the employee had a conflict with the company and asked the trade unions to mediate in the situation, and it is precisely this internal complaint that the employee is trying to use to convince the court that his indemnity guarantee has been violated.

Thus, in the information note, the Constitutional Court ratifies and broadens the interpretative scope of the guarantee of indemnity, strengthening the protection of workers against corporate reprisals, not only when they go directly to the courts, but also when they resort to internal channels of labour representation, thereby reinforcing the mechanisms for the defence and protection of labour rights.

Also, as this is a fundamental right, we must not forget that it all boils down to a game of circumstantial evidence, in which the employee only has to provide evidence of the violation and the company will have to refute the employee’s allegation, also through circumstantial evidence (or conclusive evidence).

Therefore, there are a number of precautions to take into account:

• The time factor is very important, even decisive in many cases. It is advisable to allow some time to pass before terminating a contract after an employee complaint, as immediate termination is often a strong indication of a violation of the fundamental right to guaranteed indemnity.
• Draft the termination letter based on other reasons to disconnect the dismissal from the complaint as much as possible.