The case was first presented before the labour section of the Court of Nuoro, where the agent claimed the payment of indemnity after termination of the contract calculated pursuant to Article 1751 c.c., which implemented the EC Directive and provides an amount of the indemnity equal to a yearly indemnity calculated on the average of the commissions earned by the agent in the previous five years. The Court of Nuoro, however, recognised the agent’s right to indemnity, calculated on the basis of the AEC.
The Court of Appeal, in its judgement, confirms the decision of the Labour Court of Nuoro.
It is important to point out that this judgement comes a few days after the decision of the European Court of Justice in case C-465/04 (Honyvem Informazioni Commerciali Srl v. Mariella De Zotti), which substantially declared contrary to the European Directive, the calculation of the agent’s indemnity introduced by the AEC (see news of 19th April 2006). It seems not to apply the principles stated by the European Court.
