A Mercadona worker was dismissed after the company detected 7,685 accesses to non-professional websites through the company computer, in a period of just 25 days, between February 1 and 25, 2025. The employee, who had been working at the company since May 2006, totaling approximately 19 years of seniority, was also caught sending at least 30 personal messages through the professional account and forwarding company documentation to his private address. The case occurred in Spain and the courts confirmed the disciplinary dismissal as justified.
The High Court of Justice of Castile and León validated the company's decision by considering that the deliberate and persistent use of company resources for personal purposes represented a violation of contractual good faith and trust. The defense of the worker attempted to challenge the reading of the computer records, arguing that several accesses were repeated or automatically generated, but the court did not accept the alteration of the matter of fact. The judges highlighted that the absence of direct economic damage did not eliminate the gravity of the conduct.
In addition to the Internet accesses, the process included a history of previous warnings for inappropriate comments, threats to a colleague, use of a mobile phone during working hours and unjustified abandonment of the workstation. In May 2025, already after the dismissal, it was also demonstrated through witness evidence that the worker directed insults and threats at another colleague. The Mercadona collective agreement expressly prohibits the private use of computer resources and classifies these infractions as very serious.
The decision was made under Article 54 of the Spanish Workers' Statute, which admits dismissal for serious and culpable breach, including the violation of contractual good faith, abuse of trust and verbal or physical offenses against persons working at the company. The ruling was identified as No. 1541/2026.
