In 2022, in a large food company, corporate control passed from foreign owners to Russian management. To optimize costs, the company decided to restructure its operations, including the transfer of all administrative and managerial functions to the head office in St. Petersburg. In this regard, the position of legal counsel at a production enterprise in the Moscow region was, among other things, reduced.
The legal counsel dismissed as part of the staff reduction did not agree with the dismissal and applied to the Ostankino District Court of Moscow with a claim for reinstatement. The statement of claim alleged that simultaneously with the dismissal of the plaintiff, a vacant position of legal counsel was created in the St. Petersburg office of the company. The plaintiff believed that this testified to the fictitious nature of the staff reduction, and the fact that this position was not offered to him confirmed the company’s unwillingness to continue labor relations with him for reasons that, in the opinion of the legal counsel, had discriminatory grounds.
By the decision of the Ostankino District Court of December 18, 2023 in case No. 02-5548/2023, the claim was denied. The court agreed with the arguments of the company, which were represented by employees of our bureau, that the current labor legislation does not require the employer to offer an employee dismissed under the rules of staff reduction, vacant positions in other regions of Russia, that the staff reduction was caused by the economic necessity of optimizing the management structure and minimizing costs, that there are no signs of discriminatory attitude of the company towards the employee and no evidence has been presented by the employee.
By the decision of the Moscow City Court of October 22, 2024, the employee’s appeal was left unsatisfied, the decision to dismiss the claim came into legal force.
