Facts
The case concerns the transfer of an employment relationship in the course of the transfer of a restaurant from the defendant to a third party. The plaintiff, a waitress, had been employed by the defendant since 1990. In March 1994, the defendant informed the plaintiff that it would be terminating its operations at the end of March 1995, as the lease for the restaurant was expiring. The defendant encouraged the plaintiff to look for a new job and terminated the employment relationship as of March 31, 1995. The plaintiff became pregnant in October 1994 and unsuccessfully offered her services to the restaurant's successor as of March 16, 1995. She then sued for payment of wages for the period from April 1 to August 15, 1995, and from September 11, 1995 to February 29, 1996.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court held that pursuant to Art. 333 CO, in the event of a transfer of a business or part of a business to a third party, the employment relationships with all rights and obligations pass to the acquirer, unless the employee objects. This also applies if the transfer is not based on a legal relationship between the previous and the new operator, but the new operator simply continues the business.
In the present case, the plaintiff's notice period was suspended at the time of the…