The way has been cleared for the dismissal without severance pay of employees engaged in actions lacking in truthfulness and loyalty.

With the decision dated 10.01.2022, numbered 2021/11747 E. and 2022/12 K., the Ninth Civil Chamber of the Court of Cassation ruled as follows: The plaintiff, while working as a sales manager in the fruit and vegetable department at the defendant’s workplace, alleged that their employment contract was unjustly terminated by the employer and claimed for severance pay, notice pay, moral damages, annual leave, overtime pay, travel expenses, and telephone expenses used for work.

The defendant argued that the employment contract was terminated in accordance with Article 25/II-g-e of Law No. 4857, hence the claims for notice and severance pay were unfounded. They stated that as a result of inspections and procedures carried out in the unit where the plaintiff worked, it was determined that the company incurred a loss of 1,055,297.16 TL. Therefore, a complaint was filed with the Public Prosecutor’s Office. The defendant requested the dismissal of the lawsuit based on these grounds.

In Article 25 of Law No. 4857, situations that do not comply with morality and good faith are listed, and it is explained that if such circumstances or similar ones exist, the employer has the right to terminate the employment contract. Additionally, under subparagraph (e) of the aforementioned article, it is stated that employee behaviors that do not comply with truthfulness and loyalty, such as abusing the employer’s trust, theft, or disclosing the employer’s trade secrets, provide the employer with the right to terminate the contract with just cause.

From the information and documents in the file, it is understood that the plaintiff started working at the defendant’s workplace, served as a sales manager in the fruit and vegetable department until the last date of… Then, the plaintiff did not continue to work. An official warning was sent to the plaintiff by the employer, mentioning the request for information regarding the audit conducted at the workplace, and questioning whether the plaintiff abandoned the job. However, the plaintiff stated that they were dismissed without just cause by the employer. It is also understood that the employment contract was terminated by the employer’s notification in accordance with the provisions of Article 25/II-g-e of Law No. 4857.

After the termination, an internal audit report and a report from a financial consultancy firm regarding the damage incurred in the workplace were obtained by the employer. These reports stated, in summary, that the plaintiff caused damage to the company by incorrectly determining the selling prices in the stock movements and that the assistant employee also contributed to the occurrence of the damage.

Although the plaintiff was tried for abusing trust in the Criminal Court of First Instance and acquitted due to lack of evidence, considering the information and documents in the file, especially the statement of the person mentioned in the court decision during the internal audit; according to evidence indicating that the actions of the plaintiff and their assistant led to the failure to timely record certain products in the system, purchasing the same product at different prices within short intervals without timely registration, and determining sales prices not in accordance with the company policy due to irregular transactions, resulting in losses to the employer, it is understood that the dismissal based on behaviors contrary to truthfulness and loyalty was justified. Consequently, the rejection of the employee’s claims for severance and notice pay in the lawsuit is necessary.”