The Contentious-Administrative Court number 5 of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria has ruled the nullity of the dismissal of Ana Isabel Gutiérrez Triano, who held the position of Director General of Human Resources for the City Council. The judicial decision, which can still be appealed, requires the official's reinstatement to her position and that the council pay her unpaid salaries, along with accrued interest since her dismissal in late March 2025.
The ruling, which sides with Gutiérrez Triano, represented by lawyer Saúl Quesada, highlights that the City Council did not adequately justify the urgency of the dismissal. This was processed in just twenty minutes to be included on the agenda of the City Government Board the following day. The council had argued that the dismissal was due to delays in the staff stabilization process, which was supposed to conclude in December 2024.
The existing reproaches in the lawsuit in this regard must be considered, as there are no technical reports; nor are the reasons detailed (and justified) why only Ana Isabel Gutiérrez was considered responsible for the described situation or, in the event that personnel problems were the responsibility of several people, the degree of responsibility of the dismissed person was not specified.
The magistrate rejected this justification, pointing out the absence of technical reports supporting Gutiérrez Triano's exclusive responsibility or detailing any erratic performance of her duties. Furthermore, the judge questioned the need to apply an urgent procedure for the dismissal, initiated by the Councilor for the Presidency, Francisco Hernández Spínola, on March 26, 2025.
The sentence also emphasizes the inconsistency that, although the dismissal was agreed upon abruptly, its effects were postponed until April 15, 2025, more than two weeks after the decision. This situation, according to the magistrate, lacks justification in the municipal resolution. The judicial resolution reminds the City Council of its obligation to motivate its decisions with precise reasons and not with generic arguments.
This case is similar to the annulment of the dismissal of the former head of the Local Police, Carlos Saavedra Brichis, where the same court, following the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court, declared the dismissal null due to lack of justifying evidence. The magistrate emphasizes that the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria City Council has not complied with the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court regarding the terms in which such personnel dismissals must occur.
