The Supreme Court of Victoria's decision of Jurecek v
Director, Transport Safety Victoria [2016] VSC 285 clarifies
the application of privacy law to an employee's social media
account, specifically in relation to an employer collecting and
using information gathered from an employee's Facebook account
when investigating misconduct.
Facts
Ms Jurecek commenced employment with the Victorian Office of the
Director of Transport Safety (TSV) in 2012. She
experienced ongoing issues with alleged workplace bullying, stress
and other complaints.
Ms Jurecek had engaged in a number of private message
conversations with a colleague and also made public posts on
Facebook during which she made a number of employment-related
remarks. Ms Jurecek's Facebook account was in a different name.
Ms Jurecek made a particularly abusive post on the colleague's
Facebook "wall". The colleague reported the abusive post
to TSV, and also provided the employer with copies of the
