Employee use of information and communication technology
In Alsnih v Al Quds Al-Arabi Publishing & Advertising, an employment tribunal held that the dismissal of an employee for refusing to use a work-related app on her personal phone was procedurally and substantively unfair.
We look at three employment tribunal cases in which employers criticised or disciplined employees for their social media activities.
We examine four employment tribunal decisions concerning the dismissal of employees for social media activities.
In Higgs v Farmor's School, an employment tribunal considered whether or not an employee's belief opposing gender fluidity constituted a philosophical belief within the meaning of the Equality Act 2010.
In Hall v Weightmans LLP, an employment tribunal found that the employee's dismissal for excessive internet use discovered during a disciplinary investigation was fair and that the appeal procedure followed was "textbook".
In Elliott v RMS Cash Solutions Ltd, a Northern Ireland tribunal held that a cash transit firm fairly dismissed an employee whose Snapchat posts revealed a colleague's personal details. The posts increased the risk of "tiger kidnapping", which involves staff or their families being kidnapped to force staff to help commit a crime.
In Barbulescu v Romania [2017] IRLR 1032 ECHR, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights held that the Romanian courts failed to afford adequate protection to the art.8 rights of an employee who sought to challenge his dismissal following a monitoring exercise by his employer.
In this Romanian case, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has held that monitoring the employee's private use of a business messaging account amounted to a breach of his right to private life and correspondence under art.8.
An employment tribunal has rejected the unfair dismissal claim of a long-serving employee with a clean disciplinary record who was dismissed over comments she made on Facebook about her employer.
This tribunal decision concerns a long-serving employee who was dismissed for making derogatory comments about his colleagues and his employer that he had posted on Twitter up to three years previously.
Employment law cases: HR and legal information and guidance relating to employee use of information and communication technology.