In a recent judgment of the Italian Supreme Court (n.28398 of 09/29/2022) , complex under many aspects, a highly debated  topic has found a precise answer, even if with a not very articulated grounds. A Court of Appeal had indeed ruled inadmissible the use in court of the recording of telephone conversations between a worker and his boss whichgave evidence of ht  retaliatory intent of the dismissal subsequently imposed by the company.

The Court of Appeal held that the recordings were "abusive, illegitimately captured and recorded " and therefore unfit to constitute a source of evidence in civil proceedings. The Supreme Court  reformed the judgment, stating that the purpose of the conduct of the worker who made the recording was to protect his position within the company and to pre-establish a means of proof insofar as it was designed to defend him from the illicit behaviour of the employer and that the employee’s conduct, for the same reason, does not breach the privacy law.