Bus driver sacked after being caught singing and playing the piano in wine bar while ‘off sick’ from work wins his job back

An Italian bus driver who was sacked for performing in a wine bar whilst on sick leave for anxiety has won his job back after judges ruled his musical activities helped his recovery.

The Rome-based driver, who remains unnamed, was dismissed in 2019 by regional bus company Cotral after being discovered singing and playing piano during time off work for panic attacks.

Italy’s supreme court has now backed a lower court’s decision that performing music whilst signed off with stress was permissible, as it could have aided the driver’s recuperation.

The company had grown suspicious of the driver’s sick leave claim and deployed private detectives to monitor his activities.

Rather than finding him resting at home, the investigators tracked him to a Rome wine bar.

There, they discovered him spending his evenings performing songs and playing the piano whilst officially signed off work.

His contract with Cotral was then terminated.

The driver subsequently challenged his dismissal through the courts, beginning a legal battle that would eventually reach Italy’s highest court.

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The supreme court upheld that performing in a wine bar whilst on sick leave was permissible, as it occurred outside mandatory at-home hours for medical inspections.

“The judges said you cannot do something that will hinder your recovery while off sick, such as skiing while you have influenza or playing sport with a broken leg.

“Performing in a wine bar while under stress is, however, different,” explained Mara Parpaglioni, the driver’s lawyer.

The case has made front-page news in Rome’s Il Messaggero newspaper, igniting ongoing debates about workplace absence in the Italian capital.

And the ruling marks a significant victory for employees in Rome, where workplace absenteeism is a notable issue.

At the city’s municipal transport firm, up to 18 per cent of staff are thought to be absent at any given time.

One of that percentage was fellow Roman bus driver Ezio Capri, who was initially cleared after being caught crooning to Franco Califano tunes in nightclubs whilst off work with abdominal cramps.

Capri was later dismissed for an unrelated theft at a municipal car park.

While in Sanremo in the country’s northwest, police officer Alberto Muraglia famously won back his job after being filmed clocking into work in just his underwear before returning home to dress.

Less fortunate was teacher Cinzia Paolina De Lio, who was rightfully sacked after avoiding work for 20 years of her 24-year career.

And another maths teacher was caught working as a government consultant during 769 days of claimed sick leave, earning nearly €100,000 on the side.