He is known as the first employee to be dismissed for boycotting plane travel. Gianluca Grimalda, an Italian researcher in social psychology, refused to take a flight back from a research trip in Papua New Guinea, in order to reduce his greenhouse gas emissions. Instead, he traveled 28,000 kilometers by train, cargo ship, ferry and car, a 72-day journey through 16 countries, to reach the German city of Kiel (Schleswig-Holstein), where he was working. This decision cost him his job at the Institute for the World Economy (IfW).

Fired in October 2023, the 53-year-old scientist took legal action for unfair dismissal. After losing at first instance, he has just obtained what he called a "half-victory." On January 10, Grimalda and his former employer accepted the settlement proposed by the Kiel labor court: The institute will compensate the researcher, but without rehiring him, due to an "incompatibility of the parties' ideological convictions." The exact amount of the severance payment has not been disclosed, due to a confidentiality agreement, but Grimalda has already announced that he will donate part of it – €75,000 – to environmental organizations.

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