An employee's right to privacy is violated if an employer continues to display personal data and photos of former employees on their website. The affected employee can demand their deletion by means of an interim injunction.
This was decided by the Hessian State Labor Court, thereby confirming a corresponding judgment of the Labor Court of Frankfurt am Main.
The plaintiff is a lawyer and also holds a US bar admission. She was employed from May 1, 2011, to July 31, 2011, by the tax consultancy and law firm of the three defendants. During her employment, the plaintiff was featured with a corresponding profile as a lawyer of the firm on the firm's website. Furthermore, a webpage was maintained within the website's news blog, which also displayed the plaintiff's profile and photo, accompanied by the announcement that she was reinforcing the legal team in the area of commercial and corporate law.
Both publications were made with the plaintiff's knowledge and consent.
After her departure, the plaintiff remained admitted as a lawyer. She also became head of the legal department of a company. She demanded from her former employers the deletion of her personal data from both websites. The defendant firm deleted the data from its main website, but not from the website within the news blog.
The interim injunction sought against this was successful before the Labor Court. The defendants' appeal was unsuccessful. The Hessian State Labor Court also held the view that the defendant firm must delete the plaintiff's personal data, including her photo, from all pages of its internet presence. The defendants were threatened with a penalty of €50,000 for each instance of non-compliance.
The publication, after the termination of the employment relationship, unlawfully infringed the plaintiff's personality rights. The published profile had an advertising character. The photo and text deliberately highlighted the plaintiff's individual personality and professional qualifications. This created the inaccurate impression that the plaintiff was still working for the firm, which also led to competitive disadvantages for the plaintiff in her position as a lawyer. Potential clients were directed to the defendant's homepage.
There was no legitimate interest on the part of the defendant in publishing the plaintiff's data after the termination of the employment relationship.
Hess LAG of January 24, 2012, AZ. 19 SaGa 1480/11
Previous instance: Frankfurt am Main Labor Court of October 5, 2011, AZ. 13 Ga 160/11
Source: Press release of the Hessian State Labor Court
Goldberg Rechtsanwälte
Attorney Michael Ullrich, LL.M. (Information Law)
Specialist Lawyer for IT Law
Email: info@goldberg.de
