A recent ruling by the Court of Turin (Judgment No. 1363/2026) highlights the importance of the organisational context and workplace climate in safeguarding employees’ health.

A working environment characterised by excessive pressure, persistent stress and organisational dysfunction can undermine an employee’s physical and psychological well-being, potentially leading to extremely serious consequences, including risks to personal safety.

The case provides an opportunity to reflect on employers’ responsibilities and on organisational shortcomings that may contribute to the creation and perpetuation of a harmful working environment.

In particular, it raises the question of what measures could have been adopted to identify risk factors at an early stage and prevent situations of severe psychological distress.

A key issue concerns how potential failures on the part of the employer should be assessed.

Such failures should not necessarily be considered in isolation but must be examined as a whole in order to determine whether they reflect broader organisational deficiencies. An inadequate corporate system may prevent warning signs from being recognised, timely action from being taken, and effective monitoring and supervision from being ensured.

In criminal law, this perspective is consistent with a systemic approach to workplace stress, which considers not only individual conduct but also organisational dynamics as a whole and their potential impact on employees’ health.

Liability, therefore, does not necessarily arise solely from conduct characterised by an intent to harass or persecute an employee. It may also be necessary to assess actions and omissions which, individually or collectively, contribute to creating or exacerbating a state of psychological distress.

From this perspective, particular importance attaches to the employer’s duty to establish an organisational framework capable of protecting employees’ health and safety, including through the identification and management of psychosocial risks. This may also involve removing from the workplace those whose conduct contributes to creating a harmful working environment, potentially through dismissal on grounds of environmental incompatibility, a concept recognised in Italian employment law.

Failure to adopt appropriate measures may give rise to legal consequences where the statutory requirements are met and a causal link between the alleged omissions and the resulting harm is established.

In the most serious cases, determining liability therefore requires a careful assessment of the causal relationship between the conduct in question, any negligent omissions on the part of the employer, and the resulting harmful event, potentially including the employee’s death.

This is a complex assessment that must take into account the specific circumstances of the case, the roles played by the various parties involved, and the actual impact of organisational shortcomings on the outcome.

The protection of health in the workplace must therefore extend beyond the prevention of physical risks to include due consideration of psychological well-being and of the organisational conditions that may undermine employees’ dignity and health.

The Law firm remains available to provide any further information or clarification.