French Supreme Court allows claim by trade union for employer's data protection breach

An interesting decision was handed down by the French Supreme Court in February 2016 following a criminal action brought by a trade union in respect of the failure of an employer properly to declare to the French Data Protection Authority a system of video surveillance. This video surveillance, which was installed in 1997, was used in the context of criminal proceedings for defamation in 2010 but was only registered with the French Data Protection Authority the following year.

The trade union also accused the employer of failing to inform employees in advance and failing to consult the works council, both of which are compulsory before this type of surveillance can be put in place.

At first instance, the claim brought by the trade union was approved by the court, on the basis that the non-compliance by the employer with the rules for implementing the video surveillance system helped it to improperly film the trade union representatives distributing leaflets and, therefore, was necessarily detrimental to the employees concerned.

The French Supreme Court confirmed the judgment handed down at first instance and determined that, even though they were not directly impacted by the offence which had been committed, the trade unions could instigate a criminal action in these circumstances since they indirectly suffered a prejudice for which they had a right to be indemnified. The argument raised by the employer, who claimed that the trade union did not suffer direct damage as a result of the non-compliance with the requirements of the French Data Protection Authority and the use against employees of the personal data obtained through that system, was entirely rejected. The union was awarded damages of €10,000.

Please click on the links below for the other articles in the May 2016 edition of Ashurst's World@Work

• Misconduct by social media - a global perspective
• German employees who use their own devices for work - problems and solutions
• Update on the Australian anti-bullying regime
• Under pressure? Japan legislates mandatory stress checks
• Mandatory gender pay reporting in the UK for large employers
• The implications of Brexit for employment law in the UK