Bernat Barrachina He was fired from TVE in February 2021 due to the controversial label about Princess Leonor that appeared on the screen during the broadcast of ‘La hora de La 1’. “Leonor leaves Spain, like her grandfather”, could be read in the morning magazine on public television. Now, more than a year later, the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid has declared null his dismissal.
The sentence, urged by the lawyer Esther Comas from the office of Colectivo Ronda in Madrid, revokes the first instance sentence, which considered the dismissal to be in accordance with the Law, and requires the worker to be reinstated in his former place, the payment of the wages left receive from the date of termination and payment of compensation of 10,000 euros for non-pecuniary damage suffered “as a consequence of the violation of his right to freedom of expression.”
The TSJ of Madrid notes that the aforementioned label was “a clearly inappropriate and impertinent note, which far from contributing something to the news, clouded and overshadowed it”. However, he considers that it did not contain “any expression with an objectively insulting or vexatious meaning towards the Princess, whose honesty was not really in question“.
It also underlines that the expression used “is not likely to be taken into account in the public concept because it is outrageous, no matter how subjectively certain people may consider it that way“.
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It also points out as relevant that ‘La hora de La 1’ is not a typical news program, but a magazine “with a diversity of content and in a section specifically dedicated to social chronicles, characterized by lighter content and a more relaxed approach to newsaimed at entertaining or distracting the audience rather than provoking reflection or achieving other objectives”.
The dismissal of the screenwriter was announced through an urgent communication on behalf of Rose Mary Matthew, at that time provisional administrator of RTVE. In the letter she “deeply regretted the serious error” and affirmed that they had adopted “immediate measures” so that those responsible were relieved of their posts.