Domestica, an online education platform of Spanish origin, mass dismissal case after firing dozens of workers. Affected brings the number of layoffs to 150 worldwide, at least 70 of them would be in Spain. Asked by EL PERIÓDICO DE ESPAÑA, the CEO of the company, Julio Cotorruelo, denies this and says: “no less” they laid off so many people and they actually have 40 open positions.
Many people were fired they have worked remotely and do not know each other personallyIt makes it difficult for them to count, although they assure that their numbers come from the chat group of laid-off workers they set up for this purpose. “We were fired over the phone. During the call, I could see how my accounts were closed.: Adobe, Gmail, everything,” says one of them. “The layoffs were still asking those inside to collect as many phones as they could.”
According to the CEO, Domestica about 800 employees “at the global level”. The parent company, Domestica INC, has been in the United States since 2010 and has “about” fourteen subsidiaries, two of which are in Spain: DMSTK, founded in 2014, and Estudios de Recordación digital, founded in 2019.
The company’s microbe is non-profit forum of Spanish designers, It was founded in 2004 by Webactiva, the company that made the web pages that Cotorruelo was managing at the time, building a large community that grew until it was absorbed in 2008. The businessman bought the space, hired the people responsible for the project and independently promoted it. He sold Webactiva in 2013 and was alone with Domestica and explored the education business, among other avenues.
Added DMSTK and Digital Recording Studios A total of 192 employees in 2020, According to accounts deposited in the Commercial Register. They illustrate the phenomenal growth experienced during the pandemic, when the demand for online courses has skyrocketed. Together they overcame 9 million euro turnover in that exercise.
As a result of this pandemic success, the company announced last January. 110 million dollar investment tour (105 million euro) With a valuation of 1,200 million, companies valued at more than one billion are known to have upgraded their status to “unicorns”.
in Spain they unicorns club Glovo, Jobandtalent, eDreams, Wallbox, Cabify, Idealista, Devo, Travelperk and Flywire.
“A Secret ERE”
Of all the layoffs 33 joined a single lawsuit to seek its annulment. According to Esther Coma of Colectivo Ronda Madrid, the case’s defense attorney, they all submitted a settlement and a vote of action.
Coma explains that the lawsuit may not have reached the company yet (when Corretuelo requested his version of this article, he made sure that Domestica had not been sued by anyone).
food waited forming a group of more than thirty people to enter within the thresholds set by law.
Spanish legislation requires companies to process an ERE (Employment Regulation File) when they lay off a certain percentage of employees within a three-month period—more than thirty if the company has more than 300 employees, more than 10% of the workforce if the company has between one hundred and 300—something Domestic does not do. “Influencing more than thirty workers, a secret ERE yes or yes”The coma continues.
Processing a mass layoff means sitting down with workers to discuss conditions. It’s less agile than firing them one at a time. Cotorruelo’s claim neither of the two Spanish subsidiaries laid off more than thirty people and that they are completely independent companies: one dedicated to the audio-visual production of courses, and the other to software development and marketing.
The layoffs, some hired by DMSTK and others by Digital Recording Studios, They saw themselves as part of the same group. “All the emails were from @domestika.org and we all talked to each other,” they say. Slack, a corporate chat tool, dropped significantly when the layoffs took place.
“What these employees are claiming is, in fact, both companies will form a business group and when the numbers from both companies were added, the number would exceed thirty. It’s a perfectly legitimate position, but Domestica’s position is just as legitimate to say and show that this isn’t the case,” adds Cotorruelo.
Dismissal due to “unemployment”
The layoffs took place in March and were individual. “We’ve all been fired for the same reason: four days off work. I asked why they put it if it was a lie, they agreed that they couldn’t put anything else. that they have grown a lot during the pandemic, but they didn’t have much demand for the courses anymore and they had to reduce it“, the affected attachments.
According to the story of those affected who wrote a joint statement, the company invited them to sign the dismissal and go to the mediation act, promising to recognize it. Compensation for 33 days per year worked.
“Unfortunately, this is all too common. Companies are telling people not to worry, they’re going to give them 33 days. most people signthat’s why it’s not over the top,” says Coma.
“Imagine you didn’t miss the job and the company gave you a dismissal letter that you missed for four days,” the lawyer continues. “It is even more obvious if they reveal the fact that in a pandemic the demand for courses has increased so much that they are no longer taking lessons. They have tried to hide it. All this is done with conscience. For the company, an economic or productive reason is necessarily dismissal for objective reasons, and if they exceed a certain threshold, it will be mass layoffs. They argue they have to. They were pretty rude in executionbut it would be ruder to say that this is an objective reason”.
Coma reported that the reconciliation law will be on May 9th. “If a settlement is not reached that day, which I do not believe because it is a complex case, it will go to court,” he concludes. “We “We believe the dismissals are invalid and they should be reinstated,” he said.