A French court has reached a decision on the monitoring and
interception of employee e-mail. In a case brought against Nikon
France, the court found that the right of privacy of
correspondence, already recognised for paper communications in
France, extends to e-mail.
In addition, the court found that a prior warning issued by the
employer vetoing personal use of e-mail at work, did not preclude
employees from this right to privacy.
The employee in question, Mr O, was dismissed by Nikon in June
1995 for making personal use of the e-mail system contrary to the
employer policy. Mr O argued that this did not constitute a reason
serious enough to justify the dismissal. It was revealed, during
the course of the case, that Nikon had intercepted Mr O’s e-mails
in order to verify their private nature.
The Cour de Cassation upheld the dismissal since failure to
respect the employer’s policy is, under the French employment law
code, regarded as “gross misconduct.” The court concluded, however,
that an employee has a right to privacy even during working hours
and in the workplace.
