The web site, which has since been removed, poked fun at Escota,
a roads authority for South East France. Breil, dissatisfied with
the road tolls, gave the site a version of the Escota logo which
carried a "sexual overtone" and filled the site with criticism of
the company, even suggesting that the management should be
murdered.
Escota sued Breil's employer, Lucent, because Breil had created
the site on company time, and Lycos, owner of the service where the
site was hosted. It argued that Lucent was responsible for the
"brand forgery" because it had a responsibility to control its
employees under the French civil code. It also demanded that the
court decision be printed in two national daily newspapers at
Lucent's expense.
The judge ruled that the web site be suspended and cleared Lycos
of any wrongdoing, saying that it had done all it could to identify
the guilty party. However, it accepted that Lucent had a clear duty
under the French civil code, which it had neglected by not imposing
sufficient restrictions on employees, and that the company had to
carry responsibility for Breil's actions.
The court ordered Lucent to spend up to €4 000 advertising the
judgment.
The judgment (in French) is at:
www.juriscom.net/documents/
tgimarseille20030611.pdf
