Claims through a unitary representative as a pre-litigation act protected by non-retaliation protection: STC 148/2025 of 9 September

Abstract

Non-retaliation protection, as an emanation of Article 24.1 of the Spanish Constitution, shields workers from employer reprisals for exercising or preparing actions aimed at securing effective judicial protection. This paper analyses the scope of that protection when the claim is brought prior to resorting to legal proceedings and, in particular, within the workplace. Drawing on three constitutional scenarios, the study reconstructs the evolution of the doctrine on pre-litigation extrajudicial acts aimed at avoiding legal proceedings. Judgment STC 148/2025 extends protection to claims channelled through unitary worker representation, even without an express warning of litigation, taking into account the functional role of that channel and the temporal proximity between the claim and the sanction. In doing so, the Constitutional Court continues to broaden its understanding of non-retaliation protection, in line with Organic Law 5/2024 and with the logic of avoiding litigation without renouncing protection.