A court in Corrientes, Argentina, ruled that an employee's dismissal via WhatsApp message was legally valid. Although the employer denied the employment relationship, the court established its existence based on witness testimonies and a computer forensic examination. The examination confirmed the existence and authenticity of a WhatsApp message sent on August 25, 2022, from the employer's phone to the employee's, which read: "Hello Santos, this is Cristian from Raíz. I am aware of your performance, unfortunately, we are not comfortable working this way." The court determined that the unregistered employment relationship was terminated upon the employee's receipt of this message, thereby validating the messaging platform as a means of notification of dismissal. The court also ruled that the dismissal was without just cause. The tribunal found that the reasons stated by the employer in the message ('we are not comfortable working this way') were 'so generic and imprecise' that they prevented the employee from exercising their right to defense. The ruling emphasizes that the law requires 'a sufficiently clear expression of the reasons for the termination of the contract,' and the omission of a specific cause cannot be 'supplemented (...) through the probatory activity' in the trial. Therefore, the employer was ordered to pay compensation for unjustified dismissal.
