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This is the first ruling to state that “stress at work is the sole, exclusive and indisputable trigger” of the disorders suffered by a young man after he had to watch violent videos to prevent them from being published on social networks.
Specifically, the young man worked between 2018 and 2020 for a Meta subcontractor, in a so-called “high priority” section, where he had to examine on several occasions “content related to terrorism and suicides, self-mutilation, beheadings of civilians by terrorist groups, torture”.
The worker, who was on sick leave, and the National Social Security Institute argued that the cause was work-related, which the company denied. However, the Barcelona social court ruling states that this type of work generates a “psychosocial risk”, as it involves exposure to “violence, delinquency, abuse and illegal content”, a source of stress, damage and post-traumatic stress disorder.
A journalistic investigation by La Vanguardia revealed that up to 25% of the 2,000 workers are on sick leave, most of them due to mental health problems. The Labour Inspectorate opened an investigation in 2021 and fined the company over €40,000 the following year for failing to assess and prevent psychosocial risks in the workplace.
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(source: IR Notes 222, IR Share)
