Ceca Magán defends Ilunion before the lawsuit filed against the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy
Ceca Magán Abogados has defended the interests of the company Ilunion Contact Center BPO before the lawsuit filed against the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy, managing to ratify the victory achieved previously in the Audiencia Nacional, now in the Supreme Court, in the social chamber, sentence 908/2024 in July 2024.
The company filed this lawsuit after the denial of the ERTE due to force majeure in July 2021. As a result of having suffered an attack by a ransomware-type computer virus, which blocked the company’s systems and prevented it from providing its services.
This is the first time in Spain that there has been a pronouncement by the Supreme Court, which ratifies that it is feasible to carry out an ERTE due to force majeure derived from a computer virus attack.
The request was made by the company for the confirmation of ERTE of force majeure that would have affected more than 1,200 people in 2021. After three years of disputes and the ruling of the Audiencia Nacional in March 2022, which contradicted the Ministry of Labor, giving reason to the affected company, it is now the Supreme Court who confirms that the company was prevented from maintaining its activity due to the attack.
Many companies have been attacked by this type of computer virus in recent times. The judgment undoubtedly sets a guideline on the labor mechanisms that can be activated in case these circumstances occur in the future.
In the words of the labor partner who has led the procedure, Juan José Jiménez: “This is undoubtedly a judicial pronouncement of unquestionable relevance for our client who has remained firm in the dispute, but also for future cases, given that, unfortunately, many companies are victims of cyber attacks today. The Supreme Court, delves into the interpretation of the concept of force majeure associated with the circumstances that occur today, making an exhaustive analysis of the computer security measures that the company must have, so that it is considered that even having acted diligently, the attack and its effects have been unavoidable; and also recalling that the event must make impossible the provision of services of workers, as well as the irrelevance that it has its origin in a human action or a natural event.”
