Court Denies Isabel Pardo de Vera Reinstatement at ADIF. A court in Galicia has dismissed Isabel Pardo de Vera’s lawsuit seeking reinstatement at ADIF. The reason — the deadline for filing a reinstatement request was missed. The ruling is not yet final and may be appealed.
In Galicia, a court denied engineer Isabel Pardo de Vera’s request to be reinstated to her former position at the state-owned company ADIF. The decision was made after her voluntary leave ended and her application to return was not submitted on time. The legal proceedings took place in Santiago de Compostela, where Pardo de Vera sought to have her dismissal declared invalid and to receive compensation for forced downtime.
Reasons for refusal
As noted by OKDIARIO, the judge pointed out that even if the situation is considered a dismissal, the deadline for filing a lawsuit had expired—by law, 20 working days are allotted for this. In addition, the court emphasized that after a voluntary “excedencia” ends, the employee must either request to return or extend the leave. In Pardo de Vera’s case, this was not done, and the employment relationship was terminated at her initiative. The court’s decision also highlighted that the engineer was previously informed of the consequences of failing to act in time, and her professional experience and high-ranking positions held earlier do not allow her to claim ignorance of the procedure.
Arguments of the parties
Pardo de Vera's lawyers insisted that her rights had been violated and demanded compensation of €7,501. However, the court found no grounds to recognize any violation, noting that ADIF was not aware of the employee’s health condition at the time her leave ended. The judge also pointed out that the temporary incapacity certificate was issued only several months after the leave had expired, and that Pardo de Vera had worked for other major companies during this period, indicating her willingness to continue her professional career outside of ADIF.
Next steps
The court’s decision has not yet taken effect and may be appealed to a higher instance—in this case, the Labour Chamber of the Supreme Court of Galicia. According to OKDIARIO, Pardo de Vera is already preparing an appeal. ADIF has not commented on the situation.
Background and details
Isabel Pardo de Vera began working at ADIF after a competitive selection in 2007, later holding leadership positions, including company president and secretary of state. In 2016, she took a leave of absence to work in public service, and after leaving that role, continued her career in the private sector. In July 2025, she tried to return to ADIF but was denied due to exceeding the maximum allowed leave period. Similar disputes over employment rights and guarantees for public sector workers in Spain have repeatedly been the subject of court proceedings. Issues of employee protection and risk insurance are also being discussed in other sectors: for instance, in Andalusia, concerns over the lack of insurance for doctors and patients have recently come to the fore, as examined in detail in an earlier report. about insurance coverage in the region's healthcare.
