Facts
Ms. H. was hired on March 1, 1990 as the chief cashier of a cinema owned by E. On March 25, 1992, E. terminated Ms. H.'s contract effective May 31, 1992, citing multiple professional faults and a lack of respect towards him. On the evening of April 21, 1992, E. notified Ms. H. of her immediate dismissal, accusing her of having falsified the daily ticket sales record sheet.
By judgment of July 4, 1994, the First Civil Court of the Neuchâtel Cantonal Tribunal awarded Ms. H. two compensations, one for abusive dismissal under Art. 336a CO and the other for unjustified immediate termination under Art. 337c para. 3 CO, each amounting to 10,500 CHF.
E. appealed the judgment of July 4, 1994 to the Federal Tribunal, insofar as it granted the cumulative award of these two compensations, concluding that he should only owe the first of these two compensations.
Considerations
The Federal Tribunal partially upheld the appeal. It considered that an unjustified immediate dismissal, even given under conditions that amount to an abusive dismissal, cannot give rise to the two compensations provided for in Arts. 336a and 337c para. 3 CO. In such a case, the judge will only award compensation based on Art. 337c para. 3 CO.
The Federal Tribunal explained that the legislator and the doctrine had only envisaged the hypothesis of an immediate dismissal given for…