Policeman who fronted up for work in his pants wins dismissal case
AN ITALIAN policeman who was widely mocked and lost his job after being filmed clocking on for work in his underpants is to receive more than €227,000 (£193,000) in compensation for wrongful dismissal.
Alberto Muraglia, 61, became a laughing stock in 2015 when he was caught on CCTV punching his time card in a machine, wearing just a baggy T-shirt and Y-fronts.
He was accused of rolling out of bed in the council accommodation that he and his family lived in, stamping his work card, and then going back to sleep.
Mr Muraglia was caught as part of an investigation into absenteeism at the council in the seaside town of Sanremo, in the northwestern region of Liguria.
The image of the policeman in his underwear became an emblem of Italy’s battle against fannulloni, or good-fornothing slackers, in council offices and government departments across the country. As a result, he lost his job.
But after a lengthy legal battle, a court in Genoa has ruled that Mr Muraglia was not skiving and ordered the council to pay him €227,000 in lost pay and compensation. It also said that he should get his job back.
The police officer’s lawyers said that far from being a work-shy skiver, he was a dedicated employee.
They said he rose at 5.30am to open the local fruit and vegetable market and then started work as a policeman half an hour later. In return for opening up the market each morning, he and his family were allowed to live in council accommodation free of charge.
A different court had acquitted him in 2020 of defrauding the state of public money, ruling that he was entitled to clock on and then go and get dressed because getting ready for work was part of his job.
Mr Muraglia says he is pleased to have won compensation but does not want his old job back. He said he had clocked on for work in his underwear “in order to save time”.
“I will never put the uniform back on. No one has asked forgiveness for what happened and for me that is unacceptable,” he told the Corriere della Sera.
Mr Muraglia said the past few years had been “hell” as he was pilloried by the whole country and had to attend multiple court appearances and meetings with lawyers.
“I stopped watching TV because on every channel I saw that photo of me in my underpants. My life changed drastically – I found myself unemployed and without a place to live,” he said.