Burger King employees fired for drinking out of hours lose court case

A group of Burger King employees in Barcelona sparked controversy after organizing a late-night drinking party in the restaurant’s parking lot on Paseo de la Zona Franca. According to reports, the workers repeatedly entered the restaurant to help themselves to food and drinks—without permission and in clear violation of COVID-19 safety protocols in place at the time.

Once the company learned of the incident, it issued disciplinary terminations to those involved, citing “very serious misconduct” under Spain’s national hospitality labor agreement (ALEH), specifically articles 40.2 and 41.1.c.

A judge later agreed that the employees’ actions constituted serious infractions under article 39 of the ALEH. However, the court did not find evidence of fraud, disloyalty, or abuse of trust in the execution of their job duties, as defined in article 40.2.

Despite the ruling, Burger King appealed, arguing that the workers had breached contractual good faith and abused the company’s trust—especially given the heightened public health concerns during the pandemic.

Burger King employees lose appeal

The employees pushed back, claiming the gathering took place outside of work hours and pointing out that not everyone seen in the surveillance footage was fired.

Ultimately, the High Court of Justice of Catalonia sided with Burger King. The court ruled that the workers had knowingly violated internal policies, food consumption rules, and COVID safety protocols, causing financial harm to the company and undermining the trust essential to the employer-employee relationship.

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