Burger King is once again the center of the controversy. The Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJ in Spanish) solved a case that generated a wide debate: can an employee be fired because of what they do outside of work time? According to this decision, the answer is yes, but always when the actions affect the company.
The conflict started when several Burger King employees took part in a botellón (a drinking gathering in the street) in the parking lot of Burger King. Even though this happened outside of their work time, the company decided to fire some of them.
The dismissed employees challenged this decision and argued that they were on their free time and that not everybody in the botellón had been fired. However, Burger King said that there was no trust anymore, that they violated internal rules, and caused both economic and reputational harm. So, let’s find out more about this case.
The first ruling
At first, the judge who studied the case considered that what happened could be classified as serious misconduct, under the Article 39 of the ALEH (Hospitality Labor Agreement). But, it was not categorized as very serious misconduct, such as fraud, disloyalty, or abuse of trust, which are regulated under Article 40.2 of the same agreement.
This meant that, for the judge, workers did wrong but not so severe enough to automatically justify dismissal.
Burger King’s appeal
The company didn’t agree with this interpretation and decided to appeal. It argued that what happened should be understood as a case of abuse of trust and a clear breach of the principle of good faith in the employment relationship.
The company also highlighted that the events took place during the Covid-19 pandemic, when strict health measures were in place, which made the misconduct even more serious.
Burger King emphasized that the employees were fully aware of:
- The internal rules of the company.
- The code of conduct.
- The health and safety protocols in force at that time.
By ignoring all of these, the workers not only damaged the company’s image but also caused potential financial loss.
Workers defense
On the other han, the legal representation of the employees defended that it couldn’t be applied for a justified dismissal because everything happened out of the working time, and not all participants of the botellón were fired, which shows inconsistency.
For them, private behavior shouldn’t have consequences on their jobs when it’s done in their free time.
The decision
The Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia (decision 4604/2025, appeal 410/2025) reviewed the case and sided with Burger King on July 23, 2025. The Court ruled that the breach of good faith in the employment relationship can vary in severity, but in this case, the workers’ actions clearly broke the loyalty and honesty expected in the employment contract.
So, the Court highlighted 3 main points for considering the dismissal justified
- The employees knew the company’s internal rules.
- They were aware of the Covid-19 health protocols in place at the time.
- Their actions caused both economic damage and reputational harm to Burger King.
Careful with what you do out of your job
Due to this case, now we know we can be fired if we do something when we are not working that can affect in a negative way the reputation of the company we work in. For some people this decision is wrong and for others right, but we have to follow what the Court rules and for this case it’s a justified dismissal.
So, be careful with what you do in your free time if you don’t want to be fired…