An IT administrator may only use his access rights for his tasks that serve the function of the computer system. He may not view the contents of other people's databases outside of these tasks. If he abuses his access rights, this may justify termination without notice.
The Cologne Regional Labour Court (Landesarbeitsgericht Köln, LAG Köln) therefore dismissed the action for protection against dismissal brought by an IT administrator who had been dismissed without notice because he had viewed emails and calendar entries of the executive board of his employer company.
The court also did not accept the plaintiff's justification that he was at the same time the internal auditor and that it was therefore his task to also control the executive board. According to the Regional Labour Court, as a matter of principle it was not the task of salaried internal auditors to also audit the employer or its executive board. The guidelines applicable to the internal audit in the specific case did not provide for such a right of control either.
Cologne Regional Labour Court, judgment of 14 May 2010 - 4 Sa 1257/09 -,
Source: Press release of the LAG Cologne dated 15.09.2010
Goldberg Attorneys at Law
Attorney at Law Michael Ullrich, LL.M. (Information Law)
Specialist lawyer for information technology law (IT law)
E-mail: info@goldberg.de
