Italy: Teacher Who Avoided Going To Work for 20 Years Is Finally Sacked
A teacher who avoided going to work for 20 years using sick leave, holidays and permits to attend conferences has been dubbed Italy’s worst employee. Cinzio Paolina De Lio was employed by a secondary school near Venice to teach literature and philosophy – but only showed up for four out of the 24 years she worked there.
The disgraced teacher, who is 56 years old according to Italian news outlets, was finally sacked on June 22. Even on the rare occurrence that she did show up to teach, her pupils went on strike after she texted during their oral exams, gave out grades randomly and didn’t have a copy of the textbook.
De Lio was described by the Italian supreme court as ‘permanently and absolutely unsuitable’ for the job, despite her claims to have three degrees. She even refused a request for comment from Italian journalists because she was ‘at the beach’.
Eventually, her actions caught the attention of school inspectors, who described her lessons as ‘confused’. The school then sacked her. Even then, De Lio’s career was not over as the court initially reinstated her.
However, after it came to light she had only worked four out of 24 years, the court reversed its decision and she was sacked for good on June 22. De Lio is not the only worker who has been accused of cutting corners during employment in Italy.
In 2021 it was revealed that public health worker Salvatore Scumace, 66, had allegedly cost the state 538,000 (£464,410) as he falsely claimed to work as a fire safety officer in the Pugliese-Ciaccio Hospital in Catanzaro for 15 years.
He was only seen at the hospital once – on the day he went to sign his work contract in 2005, according to The Telegraph. As a result, he was dubbed the ‘King of absenteeism’ and was charged with aggravated extortion, fraud and abuse of office.
