Italy’s Supreme Court, the Cassazione, ruled yesterday that the use of swear words in arguments at work is a crime.

This is the latest in a series of decisions by the Court which seemingly overturn its famous 2007 ruling that the Italian equivalent of the English “f word” had entered common language and that its use could not be deemed a crime. Subsequent appeal cases have focused on whether or not the insulted person’s honour was at stake.

In Wednesday’s hearing an Abruzzo employer was fined 240 euros for using a word which compares a person to human excrement to reprimand a female member of staff.

The employer argued that this word, too, had entered common language. The judges, however, disagreed, saying that employees had a right to expect more respectful language from their bosses.
They also said that the employer had used the term with an intention to hurt the employee’s feelings, which was unacceptable.